Are Brands Good For Consumers? Jan.2001
De Beers looks like it is going into the retail business. The company is
expected to make an announcement in February that it will partner with key
retailers in the diamond and jewelry market to sell its brand. There may also be
De Beers-owned retailers, but De Beers probably won’t own or control the
stores outright, because of the anti-trust issue (although they may be able to
sell in other countries.) De Beers has spent a year researching the industry.
They see the stores as a way to promote their own "brand."
This has caused a lot of fear in the industry. Sightholders and retailers are
naturally worried that De Beers will be competing against them.
But how will all this play with consumers? With De Beers announcing at least
two different brand names — "De Beers" and "DTC" — the
public may be confused. It’s as if Coca-Cola had two different names for the
same product — one "Coke" and the other "Coca-Cola."
The name "De Beers" is a relatively well-known name. The "DTC"
name, however, is largely unknown, and they will have a difficult job educating
the public to recognizing the name.
In addition: sightholder has been told to start a brand — and some have
already started some. If all 150-plus sightholders start their own brands —
plus there are new "brands" from the Canadians (the "polar
bears") and other mines (maybe an Australian kangaroo or Russian bear?)—we
could go from no brands to too many. People may forget about the Four C’s, and
just care about the diamond’s "label"— and this wouldn’t be good
for consumers.v | 
