Valentine diamonds is forever

credit: This text is part of a service of the Antwerp Facets News Service AFNS and awdc NEW YORK, USA 7 February 2006 

For the first time in five years, De Beers’s Diamond Trading Company is launching a national Valentine diamonds Day marketing campaign.

The integrated effort, via J. Walter Thompson, New York, includes print, radio, online on www.adiamondisforever.com  , and “street teams” in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. Ads will appear in USA Today, the New York Times and Sports Illustrated.

"We are supporting Valentine's Day for the first time in five years to align with trade programs in the first quarter," said JWT representative Erin Johnson. "After learning that 70 percent of diamond right-hand rings are purchased as gifts, we decided to position them as gifts of love for the first time, to build awareness for them with men. Of course, many women will continue buying them for themselves. The product appeals to a huge range of consumers, from unconventional single women to traditional married women and everyone in between."

The campaign, which takes its inspiration from classic romance novels, will run during the two weeks leading up to Valentine's Day, with significant media focused during the key Valentine's Day rush, the last five days. 

Money figures are not being revealed, but during the two-week period, the Diamond Trading Company will spend 5 percent of its 2006 marketing budget.

The company spent $65 million through November last year and $71 million in 2004, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus.