Jul 24, 2015

Forevermark Forum Concludes in Hyderabad Amidst Optimism

The Forevemark Forum, which has become something of a signpost event for the diamond industry, concluded on July 23rd, with a day-long Press Meet. The first two days of the event were dedicated to an interaction between about 14 Forevermark diamantaire-manufacturers,   and more that 100 retailers from across the country, along with other invitees and stakeholders of the industry.

The Forum was introduced by the company a few years back as a platform for Forevermark manufacturer-retailer interaction to help buyers place their orders for the upcoming marriage and festival seasons. Away from the hustle and bustle of the daily business grind, the Forums have been held in notable destinations and provide both a business and networking opportunity for participants.

The theme for this year’s Forevermark Forum, held in the historic city of Hyderabad from July 21-23, was ‘Tomorrow At the Edge’.

“Solutions of the past are not adequate to solve problems of the future,” said Stephen Lussier, CEO Forevermark, emphasising that new vision and new ideas were therefore the need of the hour.

Lussier took the media through the major steps being taken by De Beers in Canada, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia to ensure that rough diamond supply would not be affected in  the coming years.

A new word which has entered the lexicon of the Forevermark dialogue, is the “beauty” of the diamond.

“You have to go beyond the 4 Cs – which is a necessary starting place in the evaluation of a diamond,” said Lussier. “But it doesn’t give you an idea about the beauty of the diamond. Two diamonds may be the same when judged by the 4 C criteria, but one may be more beautiful than the other. At Forevermark we are putting the criterion of beauty at the centre.”

Lussier also talked about bringing back the “A Diamond is Forever” slogan and turning it into a meaningful message for the new consumers. Speaking of the slogan being such a hit and having such intrinsic resilience as a message, he said its strength lay in the fact that “Fundamentally it tells a fundamental truth”.

Sachin Jain, President Forevermark India revealed that the spending on the promotional campaign for the brand in India would be approximately Rs. 90 crore in 2015.

Jain said that De Beers had conducted a “Diamond Acquisition Study” to determine consumer preferences and buying behaviour.

One interesting fact that emerged from the study was that the humble nosepin was the second highest selling jewellery product after rings. And that has led to the development of an entire concept and collection for nosepins using Forevermark diamonds.

The role of the family jeweller is also changing, said Jain, as are consumers and their preferences. “Impulse is playing a key role in purchase,” he pointed out.

Jain said that the competition was not between diamonds vs gold vs platinum or between one retailer and the other. “The competition is between diamonds vs other products,” he emphasised. He said that “we must futureproof our business” and said that this can be done by providing the consumer with a beautiful product; fulfilling her aspirations and by inspiring absolute trust and confidence in the product.

Based on the findings of the study, Forevermark had listed out the prerogatives for 2015 as being design, technology, communication and differentiated or experiential marketing.

The design trends identified for this year are: Intergalactic Future; Extravagant Reality;  Mystique Nature; and  Forgotten Stories. An illustrative film brought out the entire process from inspiration to final product in a visually compelling manner: showing the inspiration palette; highlighting the central design identified; and depicting the jewellery fashioned from that.

Apart from displaying their Diamondsure, an instrument for diamond testing; and another machine which can sort out large numbers (500cts) of diamonds into various categories from natural diamonds, to Reefers to synthetics, the Forum had some innovative tech applications for the retail outlets as well.

One was a wall with various stages of a diamond’s journey, from rough to final jewellery, charted out on it. A rolling sliding panel can move over it and highlight in detail each process and even play videos at the touch of a button. This tells consumers the entire story of a diamond.  The other is a large table with a touch screen providing consumers with all kinds of information.

“This has been the best Forum, ever, in my memory,” concluded Lussier. “The business being conducted at the Forum and the buoyant mood here completely belied the general damp spirits in the industry.”