The fall of the De Beers monopoly after it lost the legal battle

The diamond industry is striving to reach a new level in its attempts to win over younger consumers who are more interested in gadgets and gastronomic art.

The lobby of the Diamond Producers Association (DPA) will appeal to its supporters, including leading diamond miners De Beers and ALROSA (PAO), with a proposal to increase their budget from $ 6 million to $ 60 million per year, said people familiar with these plans and Who wished to remain unnamed, since the discussion was confidential.

This group was created in 2015 to try to revive the glorious times that were half a century ago, when slogans such as "Brilliant is forever" met throughout the mass culture. Such dominance, achieved with the help of stars such as Marilyn Monroe, coincided with De Beers' almost complete monopoly on diamond production, which allowed it to directly benefit from the growth in demand following its advertising efforts.

The fall of the De Beers monopoly after it lost the legal battle with the US that lasted for 10 years about setting prices in 2004 led to the fragmentation of the industry, and some diamond mining companies did not want to pay for the promotion of the goods on the market, fearing that this could help competitors . At the same time, young consumers who had money for spending, went to electronics and refined food.

Prices for diamonds are almost at the lowest levels in six years, and global demand in 2015 fell by 2 percent. At the same time, artificial diamonds began to pose a threat to diamond mining companies, since it is becoming easier and cheaper to produce such diamonds.

De Beers cut its marketing budget by half - to about $ 100 million per year in the 2000s. In 2015, it spent about $ 20 million on a new campaign to strengthen demand among the so-called two thousandth generation in the United States and China, which are the largest markets.

The lobby of the diamond mining companies that was formed in the same year seeks to expand this kind of efforts by uniting the diamond mining companies under the new slogan "True - rare. Genuine is a diamond. "(Real is rare, Real is a diamond). Participants' contributions are determined by the levels of sales, and the most paid by De Beers and ALROSA.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-18/diamond-lobby-said-to-seek-10-fold-jump-in-budget-to-spur-demand