An abridged version of this article first appeared in the JNA May/June 2023 issue.

Stephen Lussier spent some 40 years of his life creating desire for diamonds. This started when he first handled the De Beers account as a management trainee at an ad agency. His 37-year career with De Beers, where he retired as Executive Vice President for Brands & Consumer Markets in April 2022, then saw him shape the soul of diamonds in various roles and markets.

Lussier handled the group’s marketing and brand strategy. He charted the course of De Beers’ consumer advertising, which first built on the famed "A Diamond is Forever" slogan before shifting to various brand extensions and lately focusing on the positive impact of diamonds. As chairman of the Natural Diamond Council, he continues to influence diamond category marketing, with emphasis on sustainability and responsible sourcing.

According to Lussier, there have been many evolutions in diamond marketing over the years as the ways new generations of consumers think and behave will always keep changing. The transformation of the advertising landscape has accelerated in the last decade, with social media dominating consumer communications.

He revealed, “The most important shift for diamond jewellery marketers is the necessity of building and communicating the “positive impact” story of diamonds from the people whose lives are transformed for the better by diamonds in countries like Botswana to the protection of wildlife in Africa and the new programmes to make diamonds carbon-neutral by the end of the decade.”

Driving demand in new markets

Lussier’s contributions to the diamond trade however extend way beyond his De Beers remit. Chief among these are his efforts to open the China market for diamonds in the early 1990s. “When I first travelled to China, there were no diamond jewellery stores and no real consumer awareness of or desire for diamonds. One had to be able to imagine a different future, and De Beers started investing in consumer advertising to build that future. Now, China is second only to the US in demand for diamonds,” Lussier told JNA.

When Lussier first went to China, market knowledge of diamonds was extremely low. There was however a strong aspiration to succeed in the new and emerging China and to have the things that they knew other people in other countries had.

“While we had to teach people about diamonds, their inherent value and what they symbolise between peoples of the world or what we call the “Diamond Dream,” we did not need to create the underlying desire or the consumer need that diamonds could meet.  We just had to connect diamonds with this need and working together with farsighted and largely Hong Kong-based jewellery retailers, watch it take off beyond any of our expectations,” he recalled. 

Opening and building the domestic market in India for diamond jewellery was another highlight. “The Indian jewellery market was large and gold-dominated but diamonds were not really present, except in a historical context,” he shared. “I am very proud of building a new market for diamond jewellery among the emerging affluent class in India.”

To Lussier, his lifelong mission is to keep the “diamond dream” alive and well across the world among new generations of consumers – diamonds as the ultimate symbol of love, commitment, value, success and elegance.

"In my 40 years in diamonds, I am proudest of the sheer joy that I have seen diamonds bring to the lives of the young couples starting out on their life journey together. Their diamond symbolises for them all their hopes and dreams for the future,” he said.

For more information about the “Extraordinary 40” Awards, visit jwawards.com.

As part of its 40^th anniversary content programme, JNA is casting the spotlight on the “Extraordinary 40” Awardees with special online features covering the highlights of their careers and the valuable lessons they have learned along the way. Click here to view the “Meet the Extraordinary 40” series from May to September, with new profiles published every week.