De Beers to invest $140 mn for marketing in India, US, China

Mumbai, Aug 29 () World's leading diamond company

De Beers Group

today said it will invest over USD 140 million for diamond marketing in India, US and China this year. "We are investing more than USD 140 million in marketing this year, which will be biggest spend since 2008. "The increased investment will be focused on generating further consumer demand for diamond jewellery in the leading markets globally, with the greatest spend targeted in the US, China and India,"

De Beers

said in a statement here. While a majority of the investment will support De Beers' proprietary brands,

Forevermark

and

De Beers Diamond Jewellers

, the company will increase its spend on partnership marketing, including with the

Diamond Producers Association

and India's Gem and

Jewellery Export Promotion Council

as well, it said.

Stephen Lussier

, De Beers Group's Executive VP of Marketing and CEO of Forevermark, said, "Total consumer expenditure on diamond jewellery for the last five years collectively has been the highest on record – and the outlook is positive. However, we can't take future growth for granted." "Increasing our spend from a strong position will help support continued demand in both mature and developing markets, particularly among millennials, who are already the largest group of diamond consumers despite this generation not having yet reached its maximum earning potential," he said. De Beers Group is a member of the

Anglo American Plc

group and has expertise in the exploration, mining and marketing of diamonds. Together with its joint venture partners, De Beers Group employs more than 20,000 people across the diamond pipeline and is the world’s largest diamond producer by value, with mining operations in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and

South Africa

. AP RSY