We were hired by DeBeers LV, a partnership between Louis Vuitton and DeBeers, at the end of 2002 to assist in launching the new jewelry line in North America in early 2003. We were given the following objectives:

• Launch the line before major Hollywood Award Shows such as the Golden Globes and The Oscars.
• Find celebrities as well as a nominee to wear the jewelry prior to the shows and during the red carpet arrivals.
• Locate a charity to assist in the presentation for an unveiling of the line.
• Procure media placements in North American magazines regarding the event especially the Hollywood trade papers, Daily Variety and Hollywood Reporter.
• Create a major press conference on the event and the launch of the jewelry.

When we began the project, we had a challenge since the DeBeers LV jewelry line did not have a retail outlet in the United States and had only one store located in London, which had opened a few months prior. There had been no support of the jewelry until this particular product launch.

We began by associating DeBeers LV with a charity that had celebrity associations. We secured Project Angel Food, a charity located in Los Angeles created by Marianne Williamson that delivers food to homebound people afflicted with HIV and AIDS. The charity was well known within the Hollywood celebrity set and garnered much media attention. Project Angel Food was willing to do the event provided that the DeBeers was willing to donate some proceeds to the charity of either the sale of the jewelry or by some of their celebrity friends donating money for wearing the jewelry. We negotiated a mutually agreed upon amount that would benefit the charity as well as give them additional exposure throughout North America.

We began to look at 2002 Oscar nominees for possibilities and decided that Julianne Moore should host the party since she was also nominated for a Golden Globe and an Oscar for her work in THE HOURS. Once she agreed, we felt that we needed an additional high-profile yet stylish actress to co-host the event. It would also assist with getting the jewelry worn by more than one actress, although Salma Hayek, not a nominee but certainly a highlight of red carpet photographers, would lend additional credibility and star-wattage to the event.

Once we had the celebrities in place, we were able to begin locating an actress for the news conference. HBO’s MIND OF A MARRIED MAN was nominated for a Golden Globe and we secured an actress from the series, Carey Lessard, to become the model for the news conference.
We also garnered the participation of Queen Latifah to wear the jewelry at the Golden Globes arrival line, which guaranteed her status as a growing fashion and style icon. BMC worked to secure first-rate coverage for the event. Combined electronic media for both the press conference and Golden Globes and DeBeers LV evening cocktail event in attendance included CNN, K-NBC, KTLA, ACCESS HOLLYWOOD, E! ENTERTAINMENT. Print outlets included Women’s Wear Daily, Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Reporter, Bel Air Magazine, Celebrity Photo, Fashion Wire Daily, London Features, New York Post, Daily Variety, Globe Photo’s, In Touch Weekly, People Magazine, Star. Overall, Burditch Marketing Communications secured 13,335,424 media impressions, including print and electronic, from the pre-Award event held Wednesday, January 15, 2003 that helped to brand the line as the celebrity diamond line for the year.