AdVenture fuels Grown Brilliance's meteoric rise from $0 to $200,000,000 in revenue in 18 months

Overview

The lab-grown diamond market is experiencing remarkable growth, as highlighted in a recent Wall Street Journal article. The article reveals that more than a third of engagement rings with a center stone purchased last year were created in a lab, marking a significant increase from 2020. Grown Brilliance is a leading player in the lab-grown diamond market, offering affordable and ethically responsible diamond jewelry. With the goal of introducing lab-grown diamonds to a wider audience, our team at AdVenture Media collaborated with Grown Brilliance to develop and implement a comprehensive digital advertising strategy. Through a combination of speed, cost-effectiveness, and ingenuity, we successfully drove rapid growth and positioned Grown Brilliance as a prominent brand in the expanding market.

Challenges

Educating the Market: Lab-grown diamonds were still a relatively new concept, and many potential customers were unaware of their benefits and value. Our challenge was to educate the market about lab-grown diamonds while emphasizing Grown Brilliance's unique selling points.

Creating Share of Search: Grown Brilliance had no existing market share, and we needed to increase brand visibility and recognition. Our objective was to establish a significant Share of Search, indicating Grown Brilliance's presence and influence in the market.

Differentiating from Competitors: In a highly competitive industry, we needed to differentiate Grown Brilliance from other players and create a strong brand identity. Our goal was to showcase Grown Brilliance's diamond jewelry's creativity, affordability, and ethical responsibility to resonate with the target audience.

Establishing Credibility and Legitimacy: The diamond and jewelry industry is highly competitive, with established players with a long-standing reputation. Grown Brilliance needed to overcome the skepticism and gain the trust of potential customers accustomed to traditional diamond retailers.

Platforms Leveraged 

Google Ads (Search, Shopping, PMAX) 

Meta Ads ( Facebook and Instagram) 

Pinterest Ads 

StackAdapt Ads 

Brand Partnerships (The Knot, StyleMePretty, Brides.com, WeddingChicks) 

Strategies 

Cost-Effectiveness and Early Adoption: We continuously sought media placements that offered discounted rates. As early adopters of Google's Performance Max product, we took advantage of lower prices due to the associated risks. This allowed us to maximize the budget and achieve cost-effective advertising placements.

Ingenuity and Algorithm Optimization: By utilizing advanced machine learning techniques, we trained algorithms to enhance account performance. We creatively used Google's seasonality adjustment feature to manipulate bidding algorithms, increasing Grown Brilliance's market share rapidly. Our efforts resulted in improved market penetration and accelerated growth.

Share of Search Expansion: Our team successfully raised Grown Brilliance's Share of Search from 0% to an impressive 3.5%. This metric reflected the increased visibility, recognition, and impact of Grown Brilliance in the market. Through targeted digital advertising initiatives, we expanded Grown Brilliance's reach and captured the attention of potential customers.

Targeted Remarketing Strategies: By working with our DSP Partner StackAdapt, we created specific remarketing ads based on what pages and other 1st and 3rd party audiences these users were interested in. We combined the remarketing capabilities of the walled gardens like Google, Meta, & Pinterest and complemented that with our clear programmatic strategy.  

‍Creative Differentiation and Brand Building: We focused on unique design elements, storytelling aspects, and testimonials to showcase the creativity and affordability of Grown Brilliance's diamond jewelry in our Meta and Pinterest Ads. Close-up images of larger-carat diamonds highlighted their brilliance and size, captivating the audience. Testimonials from satisfied customers provided social proof and built trust in the brand. These strategies helped differentiate Grown Brilliance and build a strong brand identity based on creativity, trust, and customer satisfaction.

Creative Strategy

Elevated Photography

High jewelry and luxury e-commerce require tasteful and polished creative, formatted for every key channel. We combined custom photoshoots and dramatic imagery with customer testimonials for our first major remarketing campaign across Facebook and Instagram:
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Copywriting With Attitude

The lab grown space was wide open for a brand to establish a personality. To begin addressing their customers with style and panache. Lab Grown diamonds are more cost effective than their natural counterparts, but they aren't cheap. They aren't fake. We wanted to convey the economic benefits of owning lab grown diamonds while at the same elevating and maintaining a sense of luxury. Talking about price or size can easily come off as sounding cheap, so we took the time to create a unique and entirely new messaging framework for the Grown Brilliance brand. Some of the messaging included phrases like:

• Go Ahead, Splurge a Little.
• More Diamond for your Money.
• Real. Smart.
• They look real. Because they are real.
• The diamond for people who know their diamonds.
• Proof that he loves you. Proof that he’s one smart cookie.
• Our diamonds are brilliant. And they’re damn smart, too.
• The diamond Cleopatra would have worn.
• Endorsed by Mother Earth.
• All of the beauty. None of the guilt.
• Grown Brilliance  Lab Grown Diamonds are not cheap. But they’re not crazy-expensive, either.
• Diamonds are a splurge. Grown Brilliance Diamonds are a smart splurge. 
• Wish you could afford a bigger diamond? Stop wishing.
• More expensive doesn’t mean more real.

We setup an A/B testing framework that deployed hundreds of creatives across thousands of ad sets. These bottom-of-funnel campaigns generated hundreds of millions of impressions with tens of millions in attributable revenue.

Truly Custom® Video Production

Traditionally, customers would design their engagement ring using Grown Brilliance's online and interactive builder. But Grown Brilliance took things a step further with the launch of Truly Custom®, a 100% bespoke process where customers could upload photos, sketches, or even describe their dream ring—and have it built for them in 14 days. The speed of this bespoke process was an industry first. Each piece of jewelry would be truly unique, truly custom, with no other one in the world like it.

To bring the Truly Custom® experience to life, our designers and copywriters worked closely with the Grown Brilliance team to ensure our creative brief aligned with the TrulyCustom® vision. Our landing page featured interactive elements, including a gallery of previous custom designs and a step-by-step guide on how the process unfolds, providing a clear and engaging pathway for the user's journey.

Messaging Framework and Creative Brief

Parallel to the web development, our creative team embarked on an intensive journey of copywriting and visual storytelling. Crafting the narrative for Truly Custom® required a deep understanding of Grown Brilliance's brand ethos and the unique value proposition of their bespoke service. The copywriters wove a narrative that spoke directly to the desires of those seeking one-of-a-kind engagement rings, emphasizing the exclusivity and craftsmanship of the service. Simultaneously, our graphic designers and creative directors worked on a series of creative briefs, outlining the vision for a series of promotional materials. These briefs guided the creation of visually striking graphics and imagery that echoed the elegance and uniqueness of the Truly Custom® rings.

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Motion Graphics:‍

‍The culmination of these efforts was the launch of an awe-inspiring motion graphics and 3D rendered video. This piece was not just a promotional tool but a storytelling masterpiece that captured the essence of the Truly Custom® experience. The video combined fluid animations, stunning 3D renderings of bespoke rings, and compelling narrative elements, bringing to life the journey of a ring from a mere concept to a sparkling reality. This video was strategically released across various digital platforms, generating buzz and excitement. It served as the cornerstone of our launch campaign, beautifully encapsulating the innovation, artistry, and emotional resonance of the Truly Custom® service, setting a new standard in the bespoke jewelry industry.

Moodboards:

Transitioning from the initial hand-drawn sketches to a fully realized, high-fidelity frame-by-frame moodboard for the Truly Custom motion graphics video was a journey. This process began with our artists and illustrators bringing their sketches to life through detailed and expressive drawings, capturing the essence of the Truly Custom® concept. Using design software, we crafted each frame, allowing for an exploration of color schemes, typography, and visual effects that would resonate with the target audience.

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Final TrulyCustom® Video

The moodboard became a cohesive, high-fidelity visual storyboard, setting the stage for a compelling motion graphics video. The creation of the Truly Custom® motion graphics video involved converting CAD files of diamond designs into detailed 3D renders, showcasing the precision and beauty of the jewelry. These high-quality renders were then incorporated into the video, which featured smooth animations and a clear narrative to highlight the bespoke ring-making process. The final video effectively demonstrated the unique value of the Truly Custom® service, showcasing the intricate details and craftsmanship of each custom-designed piece.

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Community Engagement and Advocacy: By fostering engagement with specific wedding and jewelry editorial partners and cultivating brand partnerships and relationships, we created some validity and credibility for the Grown Brilliance brand. These partnerships helped showcase our brand across their targeted-advertising ecosystem. Also, these efforts spread positive word-of-mouth sentiments about Grown Brilliance and generated brand amplification and awareness of our involvement in the lab-grown diamond space.

The Knot

StyleMePretty

Brides.com

WeddingChicks

Results

Within just 18 months, Grown Brilliance achieved remarkable success:

Annual revenue grew from $0 to $200,000,000.

Blended 2x+ Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) month-over-month.

Share of Search increased from 0% to 3.5%

4,500+ Orders