The DPA's members are the seven leading diamond miners in the world: De Beers, Alrosa, Gem Diamonds, Petra Diamonds, Rio Tinto, Dominion Diamond Corp, and Lucara Diamond Corp.
The latest jump in the body's budget follows an increase to $57 million last year. The DPA was established in 2015, with a budget of just $6 million.
The increase in resources will enable the DPA to expand its marketing campaigns in the US and other markets, CEO Jean-Marc Lieberherr told Rapaport News.
“Last year, we invested about $50 million in our first real year of investment, which was significant. In 2018, we’re looking at investing about $70 million, which means we’ll be able to slightly increase the level of effort in the US.”
The increased budget will also support the DPA’s first full year of investment in India, where it started a campaign last November, and its efforts in China, which are set to start in April.
The DPA's main efforts are still concentrated on the US market, which accounts for around 50 percent of global jewelry sales. In 2017, it poured 90 percent of its budget into the US market, creating advertising and YouTube movies aimed at the Millennials market.
Lieberherr said that this led to approximately one billion “paid impressions,” which is the number of times a sponsored item appears on someone’s web browser. He said the DPA spent $15 million in the fourth quarter, including on short video advertisements ahead of the vital holiday season.
Looking ahead to this year, the DPA will invest around $40 million on paid media in the United States. And in February, it will partner with broadcasters for the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in a bid to find potential parallels between the global sporting event and the diamond industry.
“The approach I’ve taken with the DPA is let’s start small, let’s demonstrate how much value we’re creating, let’s build our capabilities, and as we do, let’s increase our investment,” Lieberherr said.
In an important comment, Lieberherr said the DPA aims to boost consumers’ impression of diamonds over the long term, not to increase retailers’ revenues in the short term. That is why it is spreading its spending across the year, rather than pouring it all on holiday campaigns.
“Our role is not to drive sales during holiday seasons — that’s what brands and retailers do. Our role is to create fertile, emotional territory through [an] ongoing presence and an ongoing dialogue with consumers throughout the year. All this while we build our organization, we build our capabilities. We’re not here for the next one, two, three years, we’re here for the next couple of decades to really have an impact on the industry.”
