Between April 22 and April 24, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) organized a new Antwerp Diamond Experience dedicated to Japanese buyers. “This is our first visit from Japan. Due to the importance of the Japanese market, we felt it was imperative not to neglect it, and to reinforce our trade relations at the ground level. Japan is the fourth largest diamond consumption market of polished diamonds in the world after the U.S., China and India,” explained Margaux Donckier, AWDC spokesperson. She continued, “The DnA campaign, which focuses on the core values of the Antwerp diamond industry, is therefore very interesting for the Japanese retail market. This was one of the main reasons that a delegation of high-quality Japanese buyers came to Antwerp for this event. The Antwerp Diamond Experience (ADE) is designed around a three-day behind-the-scenes tour featuring B2B meetings between Antwerp companies and international buyers, which consisted of primarily a mix of retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers. Twenty-five Japanese members of the industry participated in the event, the maximum capacity for the event. “If for spiritual matters, size doesn’t matter, it’s another story when it comes down to business,” stressed Donckier, noting interest from the Antwerp diamond community was so high that the AWDC had to turn down requests to attend.
Why did the Japanese buyer come from so far? Takuya Ito from AP Diamond, a Japanese wholesaler, elaborated, “Most of the participants were looking for something special other than what can be found in the Asia-Pacific region. Currently, there exists very tough price competition in Japan. Everyone attempts to run away from that competition. Since Belgian diamonds have a very good image, they though that the image could add value to their diamonds and brands.”
The cost issue is also an important one. If the ADEs are effective, they may just be a prototype of the future form of B2B business promotion. Indeed, there’s no match between the couple of hundreds of euros charged by the AWDC compared to the tens of thousands of euros spent by Antwerp diamantaires to attend international trade shows. To ascertain this, each company will have to compare the quantity and the quality of buyers generated by each model. Donckier confirmed, “It is certainly more cost efficient than participating in a fair. The diamantaires don’t need to travel, to pay for a hotel, ship and insure goods, etc. Rather, they can meet with new potential business contacts in their offices, where they can show all the goods they have and how their company is organized.”
However, Richard Klein of S. Muller & Sons noted, “Most of the visitors looked for small goods. They seemed serious clients. Marketing wise, there is value, since it’s always positive to have buyers come to Antwerp. But from a sales perspective, when you subsidize travel, then the visitors get a free ride to tour but not to buy. In other words, if the trip is free, they don’t feel the urge to buy. I don’t think this format is a threat to shows. Maybe it’s complementary since it’s much smaller and very targeted.”
On the other hand, Ito seems rather convinced by the endeavor: “I heard that some participants purchased goods from Antwerp companies. And other guest companies are still in negotiation. Most of the Japanese representatives who came made connections and are considering future business. This kind of speed dating events is very effective, especially if the suppliers have access to an array of special goods. And it turned out that some Antwerp companies had very unique goods that we had never seen in Japan. Therefore, most Japanese companies were interested in those goods. They were also able to enter HRD Antwerp diamond laboratory, the diamond exchanges, polishing plants and more. All of this made it a very special experience for all of them and it became strong motivation for dealing with Belgian diamantaires. Most of my colleagues are expecting to continue coming to Antwerp, maybe once a year. And many other companies that couldn’t join the tour this time are hoping to visit Antwerp at the next ADE. As for my personal opinion: Continuation leads to motivation, value and awareness,” Ito concluded.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - July 2017. To subscribe click here.