Today ranging in age between 20 and 39, the Millennials represent the largest and potentially most lucrative consumer generation since the fabled Baby Boomers of the late 20th Century. The degree to it will consider fine jewellery as a preferred purchase will largely determine the jewellery industry’s growth and prosperity over the coming years, but this is not guaranteed. Other business sectors, like consumer electronics and the travel industry, are investing billions in marketing to attract the Millennials discretionary income, and the jewellery industry now needs to play catch-up and rethink the way it operates.

“Marketing to the Millennials: Meeting the Expectations of the Next Great Consumer Generation” will be the subject of a seminar, co-organized by Fiera di Vicenza and CIBJO on Sunday, September 4, 2016, at 11:00 AM-1:00 PM, in Hall 7 – Room 7.1.2b (Sala Tiziano 2).

The seminar will take place during VICENZAORO September, the international gold and jewellery show organised by Fiera di Vicenza, which will take place in Vicenza, September 3-7, with 1,300 brands from 35 different countries, including all of Italy’s gold districts Confirmed as one of the world’s leading gold and jewellery shows, VICENZAORO September is also renowned in the industry for providing an observatory to very latest trends and a preview of what is coming in the future.

“The Millennials do not automatically aspire to own fine jewellery in the same way that their parents or grandparents did,” said Steven Benson, an industry journalist and CIBJO’s Director of Communication, who will moderate the seminar. “Generic diamond jewellery advertising was suspended by De Beers about 10 years ago, so they have not been as exposed to marketing messages from our industry as they moved into adulthood, but they were being targeted by other industries. Also, they are the most digitally adept generation ever, and with these abilities get their information, communicate and make purchasing decisions differently to previous generations. To market successfully to them, we must understand how they think, how they interact and how to reach them.”

To examine the subject, Fiera di Vicenza and CIBJO have gathered a blue ribbon panel of presenters, each of whom will provide a different perspective. It includes:

• Jean-Marc Lieberherr, CEO of the Diamond Producers Association, which is the organisation created by the world’s largest diamond producers with the express purpose of reintroducing an all-industry generic diamond jewellery marketing programme, for which the target audience will largely be the Millennials.
• Costantino Papadimitriou, Senior Vice President of Brand Strategy and Innovation at De Beers’ Forevermark, which currently operates the largest marketing budget in the international diamond sector, and is intensely involved in marketing diamond jewellery to new generations of consumers.
• Roberto Coin, the legendary Italian jewellery designer and owner of the jewellery brand of the same name, who over the decades has proven to be remarkably successful in appealing to generation after generation of consumers.
• Ella Goldner, Global Strategy Director at IPG Mediabrands in London, one of the world’s five largest advertising and marketing agencies, where she has been responsible for developing integrated communications globally for Millennial clients of organisations and corporations such as Wimbledon and Unilever.

Studies of Millennial consumers consistently show them to be significantly more aware than earlier generations of the business sector’s social commitment to society, with 50 percent saying that they will be more willing to make a purchase if the product supports a worthy cause, and 37 percent saying they would even be prepared to pay more for such a product. This characteristic will be discussed at length during the seminar, and it corresponds to both CIBJO and Fiera di Vicenza’s commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability, which they pursue together through their official association with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).