The Diamond Producers Association (DPA) plans to increase its annual budget to $60 million from $6 million by asking members for bigger contributions, Bloomberg reports.
The industry’s marketing body is looking to step up efforts to make diamonds appeal to younger consumers, who are increasingly spending their cash on electronics and restaurants, the report said.
The DPA will approach members such as De Beers and ALROSA to get them to increase their financial backing, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the plans who asked not to be named. The first DPA commercials appeared in October, presenting stories that depicted imperfect relationships that did not necessarily involve marriage in a bid to entice millennials.
De Beers halved its annual marketing budget to about $100 million through the 2000s, Bloomberg said. In 2015, it spent about $20 million on a new campaign targeting millennials in the U.S. and China.
The association is funded by its members, which also include miners Dominion Diamond Corporation, Gem Diamonds, Lucara Diamond Corp., Petra Diamonds and Rio Tinto.
