Open Invitation to the Diamond Jewelry Industry

The Time is Right to Help Africa: A Case for Cause Marketing

DiamondsAccording to the Cone Millennial Cause Study in 2006, 89% of Americans age 13 to 25 would switch from one brand to another of comparable product and price if one were associated with a good cause. As cause marketing continues to spike upward as an effective means of reaching the consumer (in 2007, consumer cause spending was $1.44 billion), the Diamond Empowerment Fund™ (D.E.F.) offers an unprecedented opportunity for the diamond jewelry industry to unite around the cause of making a positive difference through supporting education initiatives in African nations where diamonds are a natural resource.

We invite major designers, manufacturers, retailers and the entire international diamond jewelry industry to join the cause and support the mission and efforts of the Diamond Empowerment Fund.

Cause and Effect: Reasons To Be a Part of D.E.F.

  • A diamond jewelry piece associated with D.E.F. speaks to the growing consciousness of the consumer, offering an excellent way to strengthen your brand’s image.
  • All diamond jewelry created for D.E.F. is Kimberley Process compliant and proactively giving back (10-20% of the retail price is a benchmark D.E.F. requests manufacturers contribute from each sale.)
  • D.E.F. provides a high-profile platform for companies involved in the international diamond jewelry sector to develop a cause marketing program for their company that connects the consumer to fact that when they purchase items that are supporting D.E.F., they are helping empower Africans through education in the very regions where the precious resource of a diamond originated.  D.E.F. will partner with you to develop a cause strategy that is customized to your company’s interests, and will work with your marketing team to support its efforts to promote the connection with the cause.
  • D.E.F. provides a forum to reinforce the connection between the priceless qualities of a diamond — a rare and beautiful resource that is non-renewable — and the priceless, renewable resource of the human mind which continues to grow and renew though access to high quality education.

CIDA

D.E.F.’s first beneficiary is CIDA City Campus, a model for higher education in Johannesburg, South Africa. Every student at this higher education institution is on scholarship and comes from a background of extreme economic disadvantage. The deeply felt mission behind CIDA is to provide mass-scale, quality higher education and to provide an effective human development strategy for South Africa. www.cidafoundation.org

Since D.E.F. co-founder Russell Simmons first visited CIDA in the fall of 2006, nearly $10 million in support has been pledged to CIDA and its educational partners by diamond jewelry-affiliated individuals and companies.

The D.E.F Road Has Many Lanes

There are many ways you can support D.E.F. and help Africa’s most precious diamonds – its next generation of youth.

Designers and Manufacturers

Make D.E.F. a central component of your product offering and marketing strategy.

  • Create a signature piece or collection under the D.E.F. banner and make it an important part of  your line.
  • Take an existing product or collection and designate a part of the retail sales price to benefit D.E.F.
  • Develop a cause campaign specific to your market to invigorate your core consumer.

Retailers:

Make D.E.F. a central component of your product offering and marketing strategy.

  • Create a signature piece or collection under the D.E.F. banner and make it an important part of  your line.
  • Take an existing product or collection and designate a part of the retail sales price to benefit D.E.F.
  • Develop a cause campaign specific to your market to invigorate your core consumer.

Support Special Events

Support D.E.F.’s annual Diamonds Give jewelry sale event by donating exceptional diamond jewelry pieces to benefit D.E.F.

Contribute

Contribute directly to D.E.F. through tax-deductible donations that may be a part of your organization’s existing commitment to giving back to the communities in which they do business.

Work with D.E.F.

Work with the Diamond Empowerment Fund to develop your own unique road to supporting education in Africa that might involve direct mentoring of youth, internships, and training and employment opportunities for Africans.

Media

Media outlets can promote the good work of all in the diamond jewelry industry who support D.E.F. Feature the stories of companies supporting D.E.F. and the individuals dedicated to making a difference. Use your platform to recognize good efforts and inspire giving!

Fictional Case Studies: For Demonstration Purposes Only

Designers and Manufacturers:
Create a signature piece or collection under the D.E.F. banner and make it an important  part of your line.

Example:
Giving Diamond Company’s (GDC) president learns about D.E.F.’s mission and decides her company would like to create a special diamond pendant to benefit the cause. Just as she does with her most important new lines, she strives for the best in product and package design, manufactures a high quality piece, trains her sales and marketing team on the inspiration behind the line, and integrates the promotion of their piece into their most important sales initiatives to retailers and through their own e-commerce efforts. She commits to giving a set amount from the retail sale of each piece to the Fund* and she knows to maximize awareness of her company’s commitment to the cause, an advertising campaign for the D.E.F. diamond pendant will be part of the company’s marketing strategy.

The Giving Diamond Company works closely with D.E.F. to promote the message of this product through public relations and marketing efforts undertaken by both organizations. While the manufacturing, sale and marketing of the pendant is part of GDC’s commitment to supporting the cause, D.E.F. proudly promotes its affiliation with GDC on its website, with links to GDC and supporting retailers.. A general awareness campaign for D.E.F. launched nationally through television and print helps generate further awareness and leads the consumer to the D.E.F. web site where they learn about the cause and its jewelry industry funding partners. Together, GDC and D.E.F. develop effective strategies to get the cause and GDC’s support  out into the minds of the consumer, creating greater brand awareness and association with diamond jewelry proactively giving back to empowerment through education in Africa. Importantly, GDC’s donations from the sale of product are deductibe to the extent allowed by law.

*While each manufacturer must decide the level of support they can provide, D.E.F. suggests a minimum commitment equivalent to 15% of the retail sales price as a donation.

Retailers:
Make D.E.F. products an important element of your consumer marketing and point of-purchase efforts. Make space in your cases and in your advertising to feature D.E.F. products.

Example:
Progressive Jewelers wants to  take a fresh approach to giving back and promoting their commitment to diamonds for good. The sales team at Giving Diamonds Company (GDC) meets with Progressive Jewelers for their big annual product preview and sales presentation. Progressive sees many product offerings from GDC that they know will sell well with their consumer. GDC shows them the new diamond pendant they’ve created for D.E.F. and asks them to consider carrying it in all of their doors.

Progressive believes this product as a great way to give back, and tap into the growing cause consciousness among consumers. Progressive sees what a great fit this is – so much of their product sources materials from Africa – so the cause of education in African nations where diamonds are a natural resource is directly relevant to their consumers. First and foremost, they love the pendant GDC has made and the affiliation to the causes gives them a great hook to promote they care. They purchase the product from GDC* and develop point of purchase display linking the product to D.E.F.’s mission. Video projection, in-store events, promotion in their sales flyers and ads, and acknowledgement in D.E.F.’s web site and media outreach all increase awareness among cause-conscious consumers. D.E.F. also works with the the Progressive sales training team to make sure they are confident, empowered and enthusiastic when talking about the cause to consumers.

Progressive sees postive results from their support of the cause, so they decide to make all of this a bigger story by matching GDC’s commitment to give 15% of the retail sales of the pendant as a donation to D.E.F.. This doubles the amount raised from each pendant. D.E.F. acknowledges this support through their media outreach to the jewelry industry trade press, as well as mainstream press who have a growing appetite for stories about social consciousness and cause programs.

With the pendant retailing at $499 in over 600 stores and all of the marketing and support behind the project, 3,000 of the GDC’s special D.E.F. diamond pendant sell. With a combined manufacturer/retailer donation per piece of nearly $150, in just a few months, GDC and Progressive have raised $450,000 for D.E.F.. This inspires other manufacturers and Progressive agrees to take two additional products benefiting D.E.F. into their stores. They take a few existing products and decide to test tagging them as benefiting the cause. While these products were not manufactured for D.E.F., Progressive decides it wants to give 15% of the sales to D.E.F.. They display all five pieces they are offering for D.E.F. together in the case, and D.E.F. acknowledges Progressive’s commitment to being the first retailer with a D.E.F. section in-store where consumers have several options to choose from, all giving back to Africa. The old products have a fresh look and story that connect with the consumer. In a year’s time, Progressive Jewelers and its partners such as GDC and others have raised nearly $5 million for education in Africa, providing opportunities for more than 10,000 students annually who previously had no access to higher education.

True Case Study of Success

The Green Bracelet, made of malachite with a rough diamond accent, is the first item of jewelry created to benefit D.E.F. Retailing for $125, Simmons Jewelry Co. donates to D.E.F. $20 or more from the sale of each Green Bracelet. As of the close of calendar 2008, more than $650,000 has been raised for D.E.F. through the Green Bracelet. We are deeply grateful to Simmons Jewelry Co. and its retail partners for this wonderful piece of jewelry that provides an example of how a jewelry manufacturer and its retail partners can raise money for the D.E.F cause.
www.simmonsjewelryco.com

For more information please contact us at 212.840.9399 or ehaddigan@diamondempowerment.org.


follow us on twitter def_africa

def blog

DEF Live from Hong Kong

I’ve been in the beautiful city of Hong Kong for almost a week now. I am here to raise money for the Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF), my non-profit organization which is dedicated to supporting the empowerment of African youth.

More blog posts

get involved

Help DEF further our mission of EMPOWERMENT!

Volunteer
Become a Volunteer
Green Bracelet Stars of Africa Ring
Purchase a piece
designed to benefit DEF