A series of name changes has begun under a De Beers corporate realignment with the company announcing that it needs to put the consumer at the beginning of the diamond pipeline.
The aim is to consolidate the corporate identity under the one De Beers brand while the changes mean that DTC Sightholders will now be called De Beers Sightholder and the De Beers’ subsidiary Diamdel will change its name to De Beers Auction Sales.
Also undergoing a name change are De Beers Consolidated Mines South African division, De Beers Marine, De Beers Canada and DebTech while the two consumer brands, Forevermark and retail chain De Beers Diamond Jewellers, will not be affected.
In a letter to all sightholders, DTC CEO Varda Shine called it a realignment of the organisation.
"We have therefore begun a piece of work to start to realign our organization a little better to enable us to better translate your needs into a responsive production and sales strategy so that together we can grow the value of diamonds for decades to come.
“While this is a long-term effort that we will talk more about in the months and years to come, we will be taking a few small steps in the near future to drive a new culture forward," Shine wrote.
The change comes after a strategic review conducted by consulting firm McKinsey and Co.
De Beers spokeswoman Lynette Gould said, “Across our organisation there has been a proliferation of sub-brands over many years. It has left us with too many diverse brands that only serve to dilute De Beers’ leadership position and deprive each business unit of the full value of the corporate brand.”
Shine’s letter stressed, “that this is a corporate identity realignment – not a structural realignment. She called the name change “subtle but important,” adding that it “serves as an unambiguous signal to the industry that we are one company with one focus, and that our Sightholders are an integral part of such focus.”