Marketing Management Case Study

De Beers: The Right Hand Ring campaign

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Abstract:
De Beers, the diamond mining giant spent heavily on promoting diamonds to end customers through their advertising campaigns. Most of these campaigns were for the bridal category such as diamonds for engagement, wedding and anniversaries and were targeted at men who usually bought diamond rings and other jewelry for their beloved. Realizing that the non bridal category of diamond jewelry also had an immense potential, DTC, the marketing arm of De Beers launched an advertising campaign in May 2003, to promote the concept of ‘right hand ring’ targeted at independent and influential women. The campaign was backed by extensive print, television, online and other forms of promotions. The campaign helped in bolstering the non bridal category of diamond jewelry and got acclaimed at various international jewelry and fashion platforms.

The case highlighting the new advertising campaign of De Beers, emphasizes on the point that how the global diamond mining giant indirectly influences the retail sales of diamonds, without being directly involved in retail sales. This innovative campaign targeted a clearly defined target market with a differentiated aspirational concept. It was aimed at creating an altogether new category of diamond rings by altering the design characteristics. A focused differentiation strategy aimed at product extension was used in promoting the unique concept. The effective use of the 4 P’s of marketing, STP, cross promotional campaigns and celebrity endorsements has been illustrated through the case. The case also demonstrates the attitudinal change which the campaign aimed to bring among women, about the way they perceive themselves and want the world to perceive them.

Pedagogical Objective:

• To discuss the usage of STP model of De Beers’ new advertising campaign
• To analyse De Beer’s strategy using Ansoff’s matrix
• To discuss the effective usage of various promotional tools.

Keywords : Diamond Industry, De Beers, right-hand ring, engagement rings, DTC, retail, Marketing Strategies Case Study, luxury goods, Supplier of Choice, monopoly, value chain, advertising campaign, advertising, marketing, Ansoff’s Matrix, promotion, segmenting, targeting, positioning, aspirational product, print advertisement, women, bridal segment, non-bridal segment, advertising budget

Contents:

• De Beers – An Overview
• The US Diamond Jewellery Retail Market
• The 'Right Hand Ring' Concept
• The Feedback on the Concept
• The Future