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Retail
The Worthy One
A behind-the-scenes look at the new Forevermark diamond advertising campaign, “It’s a Long Journey to Become the One.”
By Amber Michelle
The story of a diamond starts billions of years ago deep within the earth and now that epic tale is the inspiration for the new Forevermark advertising campaign, “It’s a Long Journey to Become the One,” which launched November 2, 2015, and has the feeling of a movie. The initiative draws upon Forevermark’s meticulous selection process for the diamonds that will bear the brand’s inscription, which is bestowed upon less than 1 percent of all the world’s diamonds.
In celebration of the launch of the famous tagline, “A Diamond is Forever,” the commercial was unveiled during an exclusive private invitation-only screening held at the Stephan Weiss Studios, in New York City’s Greenwich Village, on October 28. A number of celebrities, adorned in Forevermark diamond jewelry, were in attendance — and mingling with Forevermark partners — including actress Allison Williams from the HBO series “Girls”; Lo Bosworth, “The Hills” reality televsion star, author and entrepreneur; Samantha Black, fashion designer and “Project Runway” contestant, and actress/model, Angela Lindvall. Fashion bloggers and editors from bridal and fashion magazines made appearances as did celebrity stylists, including Phillip Bloch. E Television was also on the scene interviewing celebrities and talking up diamonds.
The creative concept for the ads uses a diamond’s growth process across billions of years in the earth, following through to the gem’s selection as a Forevermark diamond, as a metaphor for finding true love. The story of the diamond parallels the journey that a couple goes through to find each other.
Conceptualized by the Forevermark team and advertising agency J. Walter Thompson Italy, the broadcast ad, which targets men, is like a mini-action film. The ad starts with a rugged male emerging from the ground along with other men. He is covered in dirt and goes through several obstacles of nature with people from the group fading away as each scene progresses. As the story comes to a close, the swashbuckling adventurer is seen again, when he is cleaned up and wearing a tux. At that time he appears on a balcony, where a beautiful woman is waiting for him. As she turns to face him, our hero hands her a loose diamond. The commercial ends with the tagline, “A Diamond is Forever,” both visually on-screen and as a voice-over. There are also versions of the commercial available to retailers to use in their local market, where the woman is handed a piece of diamond jewelry. Retailers will be able to choose one of seven classic pieces to be featured in the ad.
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“We thought long and hard about using a loose diamond, and we did focus groups on it,” says Colby Shergalis, vice president marketing, Forevermark US, Inc. “A loose diamond can sit in any piece of jewelry and in the ad, the diamond presented is the physical representation of him.”
“It’s a Long Journey to Become the One” was directed by Rob Chiu, a London-based director of film, commercials and music videos. With a background in motion design and photography, his work is represented worldwide by Iconoclast network. Chiu has worked on ads for Audi, Nike and Jaeger-LeCoultre. “The director has a good sense of space. It’s an epic commercial and he understands the greatness of space, how to take advantage of landscapes and how to create power through them,” explains Shergalis.
Evoking its exotic feeling, the ad was filmed on location around Barcelona, Spain, and Gran Canaria, one of Spain’s Canary Islands off the coast of Northwestern Africa, known for its sandy beaches and mountainous, rural interior. There is a 60-second, 30-second and 15-second version of the ad, but the focus will be on the 60-second spot in order to preserve the movie feeling. There will also be digital renditions of the broadcast ad.
As part of “The One” print and digital campaign, some of the ads will feature the newly launched “Ever Us” two stone diamond rings that are part of Forevermark’s partnership with Signet. The Ever Us design showcases two same size diamonds touching each other to represent the bond of friendship and love in a relationship.
The commercial launched nationally on November 2 on network television channels ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as cable networks, including Bravo, E!, Food Network, HGTV, TBS, TLC, TNT and the Travel Channel. The television ads will be shown through Christmas 2015.
A digital campaign will run during the same time frame and will be on several sites, including YouTube, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Refinery 29, Outside and National Geographic. The digital campaign will also feature display banners, video, audience buying, paid search and paid social media.
Print advertising during the period will echo the electronic ads and will feature classic diamond jewelry and the tagline, “A Diamond is Forever.” The ads will appear in a group of affluent and bridal publications, which encompasses Town & Country, Architectural Digest, Robb Report, Departures, WSJ Magazine, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Brides, Grace Ormonde and Modern Luxury Brides.
The Forevermark inscription, which is invisible to the naked eye, assures consumers that the diamond meets the brand’s exceptional standards of beauty and rarity and is also responsibly sourced. The inscription can be seen only through the proprietary Forevermark viewer. Forevermark diamonds are chosen on criteria that go beyond the traditional 4Cs. The gem must meet strict parameters that analyze the symmetry of the girdle, the polish of the table and facets, as well as the point of each culet. Diamonds that warrant the Forevermark inscription also need to meet the Very Good or higher cut standard as well as range from D to L color and be SI2 or above clarity. Now that’s a promise that will last forever.Article from the Rapaport Magazine - November 2015. To subscribe click here.
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