Forevermark, the diamond brand from De Beers Group, recently organised a customized programme on ‘Leading Business Transformation’ for their authorized retailers at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in Shanghai at the NYU Campus, one of the foremost social science universities in the world. Working with the London School of Economics and Political Science, Forevermark built this programme to open up the minds and build an enduring business transformation in the disruptive era for the leaders on the jewellery industry.

The aim of the course was to transform the thought process and create new age leaders for today. The areas covered were disruptive technologies in a digital era, the future of work, value and play, new retail expedition, managing the family firm, the leader as a strategic and value-focused decision maker besides others. Apart from the insightful classroom education, the jewellers were given a specialized tour of Shanghai’s modern retail formats including Nike’s latest experience showroom, Gentle Monster (an eyewear store),Libert’aime(Forevermark’s 1000th store)and the Starbucks reserve, an extraordinary coffee experience.

Elaborating on the program, Sachin Jain, President, Forevermark said,“Forevermark worked closely with the academic coaching team of LSE to design the programme that would be suitable to the needs of our industry’s encompassing points like leadership, the digital era, new retail experiences and managing the family firm. Our thought behind the course was to help our retailers understand the leading business transformations taking place in the industry. We hope that this programmewill help our industry leaders to build a greater business and be future ready.”

Some of the retailers who attended the program included, Indian Gems and Jewellery Creation, Senco Gold, Anmol, A.S. Motiwala, Khurana Jewellery House, C. KrishniahChetty& Sons, Abaran Timeless Jewellery, KirtilalKalidas Jewellers, Narayan Jewellers, Bholason Jewellers, Rose, PMJ Jewels, Nikkamal, Mehta Emporium and D P Abhushan. This is what some of the attendees had to say about their experience:

“Forevermark has done a fantastic job by organizing the executive educative program. The recent one in Shanghai in particular has been fantastic, because I feel this is the centre of innovation. Besides the classroom teachings, we had access to the retail markets, which were important and we believe that India is going to replicate this very soon. We had some great faculty teaching us. One great learning from the sessions according to me was the importance of decision making. The course and the structure were explained very well with group discussions and role play,” saidPratap Kamath, Director, Abaran Timeless Jewellery

“As an individual I think Forevermark has uplifted the entire idea of how we think and do business. We came here as individuals with a common goal and met so many people from our industry with different perspectives, mindsets. We learnt how to achieve these goals in an organized manner, using digital marketing or how to take decisions in a more scientific manner. Secondly, Forevermark helped us become more brand conscious bymaking us understand that it is not only about the product and value, but about the experience.Three most important things I would use in my day to day business are: digital marketing, our businesses are going through a big change because of digitalization and how we can implement it in our small businesses in a certain way to achieve our goals better. Second is decision making which is very important. We take various decisions every day to regularize business or make strategic businessdecisions, which alter the whole system, we also work towards making it more productive. And the third is how to manage all of it together and increasing overall productivity which I think was the important take away for all of us,” stated Abhinav Bhola, Director, Bholasons Jewellers.

Shankar Sen, Chairman, Senco Gold Limited, added, “When we first introduced Forevermark in our company, we anticipated that the brand, given its global appeal, will bring added value to our minds as well as our customers. We believed that Forevermark would help our customers identify with quality diamonds and provide better transparency in all of our standard products. Forevermark has not only helped us grow in terms of selling diamonds in the metropolitan cities, but also, it has helped us penetrate in Tier 2, Tier 3 and even Tier 4 cities. The brand, backed with the identity of a good quality diamond, has helped us become more confident in our business approach and operations.”