Future is now- Forevermark shows how

“Time for us is now, if not now then when, if not us then who?”,  said Sachin Jain, Forevermark India president, in his opening remark at the Forevermark 2018 Forum themed ‘Future is Now’ at Pullman, New Delhi, an event attended by over 500 participants belonging to 250 organisations of the gem and jewellery industry across the world.

Outlining the big opportunity Indian economy presents to the jewellers, he stated, “As India becomes a 5 trillion economy by 2025 and 10 trillion by 2030, we at De beers are very optimistic about the future of diamond business and we believe that the diamond business can grow more than twice in the next 5 years.”

Urging retailers to not miss this mammoth growth opportunity, he said, “Only those retailers who recognize that ethical processes are non-negotiable will be able to capitalize the opportunity”.  The world, he said, “is connected and reputational loses will be fast and irreparable.”

Laying emphasis on the Trust factor in jewellery business he stressed, “Each of you here are the trustees of the diamond business, the diamond legacy and the trustee of the trust that consumers bestows on us.”

Clearing the myth that family run businesses are small Jain mentioned global brands such as Toyota, Walmart and Hermes which are all run by families. But what remains important for achieving success is that ‘you define the purpose of your business today and lead your team towards that future goal.’

Moving over to the subject of technology, he highlighted how technology will impact every aspect of human life and how the industry needs to remain open to adapt to it.

Jain further spoke of disruption that dealt with anticipating consumer needs beforehand. He concluded his first presentation with social responsibility and supporting the global #hefor she campaign that gives equal opportunity to women.

Finally, cautioning jewellers about the business landscape of the future he said, “This period of transformation is the slowest in your career graph as the world of business will change even faster in the future.”

In his speech, Stephen Lussier, chief executive officer, Forevermark Global reminded the audience about how it is an extraordinary and interesting time for business. “The preferences of millennials are changing globally, in part to experience-based activities and in part to non-visualistic celebrations, mostly to relationships in marriage and their roles in it. Again, the consumers want to know more about the products they buy and social contributions of the brands they favour. One can’t ignore the impact of climate change and the companies’ role to promote that.”

Mentioning other bold actions by the mining giant, Lussier said the initiatives could be grouped into making emotional connections, taking social responsibility and maximizing the De Beers brand value.   “Over the next 5 years, De Beers is slated to invest nearly US$ 10 billion in the diamond business,” Lussier added.

He informed the audience about integrating the De Beers logo with Forevermark, thus improving advertisement and in-store promotions. “We can establish the shared value to consumers which can make the combined entity more powerful,” he concluded.

The speech was followed by an awards ceremony in which Forevermark felicitated retail staff who showed exceptional work in the promotion of Forevermark diamonds.

Highlighting the key achievements of Forevermark India he spoke of the success of the Credentials campaign that explained how differentiated Forevermark retail partners are from other players in the market. “This is Forevermark and your combined achievement,” said Jain.

Praising the new ways of marketing on social media, Jain spoke about an artificial intelligence based collaboration project with Google to micro-target consumers during their life events, namely graduation, getting a job, proposal and marriage.

Women economy, stands at 18 trillion dollars today, said Jain. With this, he unveiled the ‘half carat’ collection, diamonds over 50 pointers, which symbolized the inner strength in every woman as her better half, one that provides her the encouragement and strength to overcome al challenges and steer ahead.

“Almost 75% of the diamonds we as a country sell are under 8 pointers. But it’s time to push the cartage. This project will have emotional connect with the consumers. Every half carat diamond will get a Forevermark 1-year-assurance program,” he maintained.  It is set to be the biggest ever media campaign by Forevermark.

Coming to the ultimate occasion of Day 1 of the Forevermark 2018 Forum, Jain welcomed the first humanoid robot Sophia designed by Hanson Robotics, who opined on the prospects of Indian economy. Overwhelming the guests by her knowledge of how humans advanced from agriculture to technology and so forth, Sophia said, “India is one of the fastest world economies. It’s GDP is expected to rise by 7.2% this year and 7.5% by 2019-20. Look how e-commerce has evolved. This generation has revolutionized the shopping experience. It’s a win-win situation for service providers and customers alike,” the robot maintained.

Courtesy: The Retail Jeweller News Service