Diamond Company Promotes its 'Non-Brand'
By Rob Bates, Senior Editor -- JCK Online, 7/1/2001 2:00:00 AM
In an unquestionably original pitch, a diamond company is promoting the fact that it is not branding its products. The new trade campaign for Ishaia Diamonds includes such taglines as "You Won't See This Ad in a Consumer Magazine" and "We Give You Competitive Prices, Not Competition."
"I'm not trying to put my name on things," says company head Ishaia Gol. "There's nothing special about my diamonds."
The pitch was conceived—ironically enough—in conjunction with a marketing firm.
"They kept coming back to me with ideas, and I said, 'I'm not advertising my name,' " Gol says. So eventually the company decided to "brand" its lack of a brand.
All of this runs counter to recent industry trends, but Gol thinks the current vogue for "branded" diamonds will backfire. "The final consumer has to trust the jeweler, not De Beers or anyone else," he says. "It's like when you go to a doctor. Do you trust him because of him, or where he went to college?"
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