“A point of differentiation for platinum comes from the inherent rarity of the metal and primarily rests on three fundamental pillars - differentiation, meaning and aspiration. It's the combination of these that makes it tick and gets consumer traction,” says Sujala Martis, Consumer Marketing Director, Platinum Guild International – India (PGI India), when asked what sets the precious metal apart from other metal. The marketing organisation created with the vision to develop the global platinum jewellery market reaches out to consumers in India with a branded portfolio of three brands – Love Bands – love bands for couples, Platinum Evara targeting women and Men of Platinum for men.
Some of the initiatives taken by PGI India include "Men of Platinum" - a signature collection featuring MS Dhoni, celebrating his inspiring values and journey. Recently, Platinum Love Bands unveiled the “Wedding Edition” backed by the insight that real commitment comes from emotional clarity, and that platinum brands are more than just symbols and meant to be promises. Says Martis, “Initiatives like these have drawn in new consumers. As a metal, platinum is still in the buildup stage and therefore our initiatives are geared at familiarizing and educating consumers about the qualities of the metal, and this is fronted with technology, such as AR tools, hence making it an immersive experience.”
She continues, “We also do a lot of mid funnel activities which plays up the differentiators of platinum and enables a better conversion once a consumer is aware of it. The results of our brand health study bear testimony to this fact; platinum at an overall level has seen an awareness of 93% and is now in the top two consideration box of 92%, even in terms of distribution, Today, we stand at 2,000 plus doors and our distribution is not metro centric. It is 45% in metros, 35% in Tier II and 20% in Tier III. Even the traffic to our websites, 57% is from metros, 15% from Tier II and 27% from Tier III. It's data points like this that stand as evidence in terms of traction gained amongst our audiences.”
Tapping Into Different Motivations
There are several ingrained behaviors in the precious jewellery category, and Martis says that PGI India focuses on tapping into different sets of values and motivations. The affinity for platinum lies with a younger consumer and being a metal of emotions, it fulfills that need for social distinction and expression of individuality. Martis explains, “Platinum is based on a functional differentiator of being rare, and that sense of rarity is what our audience appreciates and taps into needs of social distinction.”
Defining The New Discourse On Success
With success stories of new-age entrepreneurs grabbing headlines, who did not subscribe to the traditional norm of how one defined conventional success. These stories led to a new definition and discourse on success built on values. Martis explains, “We tap into the new definition and discourse of success and from this came the archetype of ‘Men of Platinum’, a man of character. We tapped into this in 2019, and have been on this trajectory ever since for Men of Platinum”.
Looking at Platinum Love Bands, the insight came from the insight that the majority of marriages in India are arranged. Martis says, “Platinum Love Bands really struck a chord because it stood for the discovery of love within the arranged marriage setup. This greatly impacted the equity of platinum as the metal of love and that has evolved over time and today, Platinum Love Bands stands for modern love. Young women no longer look at marriage through rose tinted glasses but see it as a partnership, friendship, acceptance, individuality. These are the values that define love today and Platinum Love Bands stands for this partnership.”
Coming to Platinum Evara, a feminine brand targeted at young women, who are unapologetic of who they are and comfortable in their skin. Martis states, “On all three levels, there are three interesting cuts which are modern, progressive, true to the audience that we tap into. Platinum's affinity is with a younger audience, and this is what cuts ice with them and holds true to their value system as they are today.”
Targeting Gen Z
Looking from a media playbook point of view, with the younger audience having an affinity for digital platforms, PGI – India bent is more towards digital mediums. Another important aspect is educating Gen Zs about platinum, not in a conventional mode but by embedding elements, such as AR filters etc, to create an experience.
Martis says, “The big difference in approaching Gen Z is what really cuts ice with them. Through our content, we try to show the consumers what is authentic, build authentic connections and that's something we try and maintain across the board. Content plays out at different levels today as our consumer journeys are not linear.”
For the jewellery category, content from a top funnel point-of-view helps aid exploration and discoverability via various mediums. At mid-funnel, PGI plays up the distinct advantages of the precious metal in terms of design, emotion, offering as this helps swing conversions. The content focus also from equity point of view is to measure certain key imagery parameters, such as why consumers choose platinum to celebrate special occasions, and the imagery around design. Martis says, “As a guild, there is a lot of last mile initiatives in terms of destinations; even nudges in terms of final conversion. There are changes in the whole content ecosystem today, and we try and be as real time and as adaptive as possible.”
The Cricketing Men of Platinum
With brand Men of Platinum positioning based on the premise of success, character and values, PGI India leveraged cricket as a strategic lever to drive growth and leverage the consumption culture around cricket. PGI’s approach to cricket is to strike an emotional and cultural chord with the audience. Martis shares, “When you're talking to a male audience, cricket's domination is undoubted and undisputed. We looked at how we could approach this TG with a point of difference and we created IPs around cricket.” One of the first IPs created was by Men of Platinum in association with cricketer KL Rahul as the face of the brand. The campaign included a 6- episode miniseries, where KL Rahul discussed the rare qualities and choices of cricketers who inspire him, highlighting the brand's ethos of rare character and values. This was followed by the next chapter of the "League of Platinum Men" campaign with cricketer Suryakumar Yadav aka SKY as the brand ambassador again highlighting the rare qualities and values associated with "Men of Platinum." Martis shares, “The narrative through it stayed consistent. It was about values and character, because cricket is a
great analogy to a narrative that talks about character and values. We've tried to leverage that analogy to the best extent possible.” Another customized segment association was the ‘IPL Man of Platinum of the Match,’ in
association with ESPNcricinfo and cricbuzz in the past. While Man of the Match typically took into account the player’s performance, PGI talked about their differentiated narrative on success where the focus was on how “in moments of truth in the game, the player held on to his values, both on and off the field, and displayed values like self-belief, courage or compassion.” PGI also opened up engagement with audiences by inviting them to guess the ‘IPL Man of Platinum of the Match.’
In 2024, PGI collaborated with cricketer Mahendra Singh (MS) Dhoni to launch a special signature platinum collection, MS Dhoni Signature Edition. This collection consists of 15 pieces that included bracelets, chains, rings bearing MS Dhoni’s signature. The special edition collection line was brought back during IPL 2025 to tap into the fandom culture. PGI also focuses on short format content around cricket, such as personal stories and journey of cricketers etc, targeting the complementary multi-screen behavior of Gen Z.
Another initiative during IPL 2025 was the "#HonourThe7" campaign where fans were asked to pay a tribute to MS Dhoni through a WhatsApp journey by sharing 7-word messages for Dhoni. AI was then used to convert the 7-word message into personalized anthems with audiences tagging PGI on social media. Martis says, “What was great was to take a typical contest and add an experience layer to it which younger audiences then engage with.
We are not trying to use AI for the sake of AI, but to use it to enhance an experience. We saw a lot of traction with 10,000 plus entries.” Memes were also created around real time events during key matches. Talking about the association she says, “We've seen key parameters in the brand health track rise by 6 basis points on an average.
We do a pre and post analysis of our initiatives and have seen brand lift scores on consideration on PGI as high as 20 basis points. The fact that we are able to leave an imprint long after the match is over is important.”
Sealing The Big Indian Wedding With Platinum
Tapping into the Big Indian Wedding, PGI wedding campaign "Seal it with Platinum" focusing on celebrating modern couples and their commitment. To stand out in the cluttered environment, PGI collaborated with Indian wedding media platform, WeddingSutra where the stories of real-life couples, getting married was showcased. Wedding card designers were also brought on board to depict the couple’s love story via a wedding invite, and showcased as a content series shot by wedding videographers. Martis notes, “We tried to keep it as real and authentic as possible to the occasion. As a brand, if one of the most defining moments in a relationship is not cast in platinum, then what is.”
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