“How do we sell those small diamonds?” That was the conundrum faced by De Beers, the most famous diamond house in the world and told to Peter Guber by Rob Quish, COO of JWT North America, its ad agency.
An idea emerged that a jewelry design with diamonds graduated in size in a selection of shapes representing a couples particular emotional story, an s curve, a circle, a heart, using these small diamonds that are so difficult to sell, could symbolize how a couple’s love grows over time, their journey.
Each customer could use the jewelry to tell and signify his or her unique love story. The challenge was how to engage their customers in telling their story with the framing device of the De Beers jewelry. JWT couldn’t just tell them the stones represented their journey. It required engaging the sales force as personal story facilitators, drawing out tales of joy, hardship, commitment and passion from their customers, through the diamonds’ design.
By the end of 2007, the Journey campaign had driven more than $2 billion in retail sales.
MORE ABOUT TELL TO WIN
To validate the power of telling purposeful stories, Guber includes in this book a remarkably diverse number of ‘voices’ – master tellers with whom he’s shared experiences. They include YouTube founder Chad Hurley, NBA champion Pat Riley, clothing designer Norma Kamali, “Mission to Mars” scientist Gentry Lee, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, former South African president Nelson Mandela, magician David Copperfield, film director Steven Spielberg, novelist Nora Roberts, rock legend Gene Simmons, and physician and author Deepak Chopra.
After listening to this extraordinary mix of voices, you’ll know how to craft, deliver – and own – a story that is truly compelling, one capable of turning others into viral advocates for your goal.
