Nike executives were nervous the gimmick would fail. Michael Jordan could certainly dunk, but what did he know about sneakers? But it turned out that consumers didn’t care. The christian louboutin sneaker – the Air Jordan I – became the topselling athletic shoe of the year. And paying a celebrity to endorse a product was suddenly the hottest idea in fashion.
During the 1990s, many Christian Louboutin Boots teens admired the baggy but sleek style of rap artists like Dr. Dre and Mos Def. So, in 1999, Jay-Z and fellow rapper Damon Dash teamed up to create their own brand, called Rocawear. The hiphop-inspired clothing, shoes, handbags, and fragrances are now sold all over the world. And Rocawear makes more than $700 million a year.
“The clothes are an extension of me,” Jay-Z once said. “Hopefully, everyone follows.”They sure have. Customers christian louboutin shoes love Rocawear. And many celebrities have followed Jay-Z’s lead by cashing in on their names. Today, take a walk through Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, or
Macy’s, and every other product seems to have a celebrity’s name on it. Kobe Bryant sneakers. Rihanna umbrellas. Beyonc jeans and dresses. Even Miss Piggy perfume. Plus, many celebrities are now taking an active role Christian Louboutin Sandalsin designing the products they endorse. Gwen Stefani approves every design in her L.A.M.B. clothing and shoes line. Same with Jessica Simpson, whose line also includes handbags. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen get involved in every aspect of their Olsenboye teen clothing line.
Despite this, the 58-year-old king of diamonds is optimistic. “What you have seen in the 10 years to 2000 is diamonds losing out to other luxury goods,” said the Oxford- educated baron. “Now they are regaining ground.” He credits this revival partly to an industry advertising push initiated by De Beers that aims to treble total marketing expenditure to more than $ 1.5billion.
The company wants to make up the advertising gap between diamonds and other luxury goods. Although a tenth of the sale price o handbags is typically spent on advertising, the figure is closer to 1% for diamonds. De Beers has pressured its site holders -those who buy its diamonds -to increase their contribution to the marketing budget following the introduction of its so-called “supplier of choice”, which cut the number of dealers to which the company sells. And it is recruiting retailers such as Tiffany to cover further marketing spend.
The company’s move to improve its product’s branding has been helped by a venture with the French company LVMH to open diamond stores worldwide, including a flagship site on London’s Bond Street. Oppenheimer pledged further investment. “If you look at the new De Beers store in London, it is a step change in what jewellery stores look like. Traditionally, the bravest thing you could do was to go in the door of a jewellery store -that has to change. People have to market jewellery in a modern way.”
The brand offensive will also target one of the biggest problems faced by the industry. “Synthetic diamonds are a threat we have been aware of for some time,” said Oppenheimer. “It is much closer now than it has been before.”