A Christmas Promise

RAPAPORT… It’s no secret that Christmas shopping is not a favorite male pastime. However, each year the Diamond Promotion Service (DPS) does what it can to make it easier for men to express their feelings to their beloved at holiday time. And of course, DPS lets men know that diamonds are the best way to show their love.

This year, advertising agency J. Walter Thompson (JWT) has developed a romantic campaign on behalf of DPS that will incite men to action as a way of boosting retail sales of diamond jewelry during the all-important holiday buying season. The theme for the campaign is “This Christmas, Promise Forever,” and it will showcase the sentiment of the holiday.

According to JWT research, 75 percent of men do their own shopping and diamond gift selecting for the holidays. To help them along, the DPS holiday campaign will give them different diamond gift ideas by showing a variety of diamond pieces, each conveying the message that diamonds are the ultimate way to say “I love you forever.”

The campaign will have several components: print, television, billboard and web, all of which will be backed by an extensive public relations outreach program. To further help retailers, the DPS has created new marketing materials based on the “This Christmas, Promise Forever” theme. These materials can be downloaded from www.dps.org.

TELEVISION

A new television ad — “Drive Home” — launches in the middle of November. The commercial focuses on a couple driving home on a snowy winter night, lit only by the moon. The mood is dramatic and romantic as the husband glances at his wife and realizes how much he loves her. When the car comes to a stop, the couple holds hands, and in that moment, the husband puts a Journey Diamond pendant into her hand, which the audience sees as the camera does a close-up of her hand. The couple remains in the car, oblivious to the rest of the world. The slogan “Love is a journey that knows no end” appears on the screen, along with the tagline “A Diamond is Forever.”

SEIZE THE DAY

The perennially popular “Seize the Day” campaign is back for the holiday season. This component of the campaign is a call to action for men. These ads will appear online as well as on phone booth kiosks, bus stops and billboards. As in previous years, the billboards will be featured prominently in Grand Central Station in New York City. Journey Diamond Jewelry necklaces, Three Stone Diamond Rings, Right Hand Diamond Rings and diamond solitaire earrings and necklaces will all be showcased in these ads. The jewelry will be accompanied by sentimental taglines, such as “Remember the Moment Forever Began” and “Forever is a long time, she’ll need something to wear.”

ONLINE

There will also be a Christmas microsite on Adiamondisforever.com. This link also launches in mid-November and is the “ultimate insider’s gift guide” to buying a diamond. The guide will provide pointers on buying a diamond, as well as trend information.

Once again, the DPS has partnered with star of the silver screen Halle Berry. A few years ago, Berry wore a right-hand diamond ring in the feature flick, “Catwoman,” in which she starred as the title character. This holiday season, in a collaboration between the DPS and Condé Nast Publications, Berry will star in a four-page insert to be included in Condé Nast magazines. She will be wearing diamond jewelry from Harry Winston and she will serve as the diamond ambassador for the Condé Nast “Movies Rock” event on December 7, 2007, that celebrates the relationship between movies and music. Berry will wear a Diamond de Neige pendant by Harry Winston, which will be awarded to a Condé Nast Publication reader as part of a giveaway on the Adiamondisforever.com holiday microsite.

MEDIA OUTREACH

The Diamond Information Center (DIC) will make placements in November/December magazine gift guides, newspapers, regional magazines, radio interviews and television appearances, all highlighting the concept that diamonds are the ultimate way to express love and commitment.