De Beers: Diamonds are for Asia

De Beers has been immensely successful in introducing diamonds to Asians, making three Asian countries, the second, third and fourth largest diamond markets in the world. However, the Asian crisis and the entry into China, raise the fundamental question of whether De Beers’ positioning of diamonds as symbols of love has ever been accepted by Asian women.

De Beers imposed its global positioning successfully on Asia. In the dramatically changed environment of 1997/98 in the virgin territory China, the limits of this approach become apparent. The case demonstrates the intricacies of consumers? behaviour across countries and cultures, and the need for respecting differences when designing, advertising campaigns for sensitive product categories.