Diamond Trading Company, a De Beers group company, is looking at bringing its Forever Mark range to India. The move follows DTC's decision to hand over the Nakshatra and Asmi brands to its sightholders (partners) over the next couple of years. |
Cherie Tandon Saldanha, marketing director, DTC India, said DTC was currently piloting the range in Hong Kong and would be launching it in India, Japan and the Gulf by November 2006. The Forever range is essentially a diamond shaped trust mark which would be laser engraved on diamonds which meet certain specifications. |
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"This is one brand which we may possibly decide to hold on to and not hand over to sightholders," said Saldanha, "but otherwise globally we follow a practice of handing over the brands once we feel it has met the need it was created to satisfy." |
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Next on the agenda is a gifting programme, which the DTC would launch by March 2006. "Research shows that diamonds are the most aspirational gift item, and we will be using different gifting pegs for different relationships for this programme," she explained. |
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There will be a 'gift a diamond planet' concept at all retail outlets, which would lead to increased focus on the gifting aspect as well as brand building. Apart from this, the company plans to increase its work in providing value-added services to its clients. |
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"This will be a 360-degree approach where we will provide our research, marketing and PR support to our sightholders to help them develop a differentiated brand in the market," added Saldanha. |
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DTC, being the largest producer of diamonds is not allowed to distribute them, which is why it ties up with sightholders in different countries to promote its brands. Incidentally, 37 of its 92 sightholders globally are in India. Keeping this in mind, it will be handing over its Nakshatra brand to Brightest Circle Jewellery Pvt Ltd in 2008, and Asmi sometime in 2006 to Gitanjali. |
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Sangini too would be handed over soon, although the timeframe was yet to be finalised. Meanwhile, DTC has already started research on other new brands to be launched once the present ones are handed over. |
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