If I was in charge of de beers I would launch a brand of synthetic diamonds (just like they did). I would have the tech to distinguish synthetic vs natural (as far as possible). I would invent classifications (taxonomies) that make sense only for synthetic diamonds. I would get people talking and thinking about synthetic diamonds. I would market this brand as high quality high end synthetic diamonds. I would promote this brand as the hot new thing, while making sure consumers understand that this brand is exclusively for synthetic diamonds. I would make sure that this brand was a market leader in the synthetic diamonds space. Then, and here's the trick, I would price synthetic diamonds dirt cheap. Maybe at cost or less.
Agreed, I would add a synthetic only feature that they can patent and trademark. I would make it a super luxury item. Once their diamond becomes a brand name then they own the synthetic diamond business. They have the money and the prestige to do it. They are making a mistake making synthetics less expensive.
But they are the experts, they've dominated the industry for over 100 yrs. They know what they are doing. I think long term they will dominate the synthetic diamond business too. My suspicion is that they will underprice the competition and slowly acquire them while making the market harder for competition to enter the business by making it harder for them to sell their product to distributors thru exclusive contracts. Debeers is a monopoly. They don't have to act fair since they are based outside the U.S. so they can get away with tactics that would be illegal for U.S. companies.
If I was in charge of de beers I would launch a brand of synthetic diamonds (just like they did). I would have the tech to distinguish synthetic vs natural (as far as possible). I would invent classifications (taxonomies) that make sense only for synthetic diamonds. I would get people talking and thinking about synthetic diamonds. I would market this brand as high quality high end synthetic diamonds. I would promote this brand as the hot new thing, while making sure consumers understand that this brand is exclusively for synthetic diamonds. I would make sure that this brand was a market leader in the synthetic diamonds space. Then, and here's the trick, I would price synthetic diamonds dirt cheap. Maybe at cost or less.