Diamonds are forever… apparently. A diamond engagement ring feels like one of those traditions that has simply always existed. Except, spoiler alert, it hasn’t.
This video looks at how De Beers helped turn diamonds into the ultimate symbol of love and ‘just what you do when you get engaged’.
Which raises a few questions.
- Just how did they do it?! If a company can attach love, commitment and social status to a lump of crystallised carbon, is that brilliant brand storytelling… or manipulation?
- And where else does this happen? How much of what we think of as tradition is actually just really successful marketing? How much of what we buy, value or aspire to is based on genuine need, and how much has been carefully engineered by marketers?
- If marketing changes behaviour so successfully that it becomes part of our culture, does it eventually stop being “marketing” and simply become, well, “normal”?
So. Many. Questions!
For our Watch and Talk sessions, this video is a great starting point for discussion around marketing, branding, consumer psychology, ethics, perceived value and corporate influence.
Watch the video here (but it’s always more interesting to talk about it 😉):
