Martin Rapaport Urges $1B Marketing Spend

RAPAPORT… Martin Rapaport has
called for more effective marketing of diamond jewelry and a $1 billion global campaign promoting natural-diamond engagement rings.



Speaking at the 18th
Paris Gemmological Rendez Vous on September 9, Rapaport, chairman of the
Rapaport Group, said current generic marketing efforts did not go far enough. Miners,
supported by brands, must step up to the plate to reach out to consumers in a fast-changing
society, he added.


The campaign would
need to appeal to the emotional and ethical values of natural diamonds, and
should embrace recycling in a more environmentally sensitive world, Rapaport said
at the one-day conference, organized by the French Gemological Association
(AFG).


“Why do people buy
diamonds? They are a symbol of committed love and a store of value,” Rapaport told
a packed audience of industry leaders and gemologists.


Rapaport highlighted a
tightening gap between rough and polished diamond prices, squeezing the profitability
of manufacturing. “We need a bigger pie,” he observed, referring to a need for
more tailored global marketing to drive consumers to spend more on diamond jewelry.



Rapaport voiced
concerns over the potential impact of the US-China trade war on the global
economy. India, the world’s biggest supplier of polished diamonds, is unlikely
to benefit in the near term from increased diamond-jewelry sales to the US
market in the wake of reduced competition from tariff-hit China, he noted.

Image: Man proposing to his girlfriend. (Shutterstock)