Brilliant Earth
Brilliant Earth entered a hostile marketplace with an ethical mission and an ambitious vision. During the first three years, its brand voice, positioning, and educational storytelling helped build trust, shift the narrative around conflict-free diamonds, and push the company to the top of its category.
Motivation
As an early pioneer in ethical diamond sourcing, Brilliant Earth entered a luxury market that was largely indifferent to the origins of its products. The challenge wasn’t just to differentiate the brand, but to change the terms of the category. During a critical growth period, the founders needed a strategic brand voice that could carry their values into a wider market without losing authenticity.
Approach
I partnered with Brilliant Earth in its formative years to develop its first brand identity, positioning strategy, and consumer messaging. The work included defining a category narrative around ethical luxury, producing the brand’s first digital campaigns, and crafting language that would resonate with both mission-driven buyers and style-conscious consumers. This foundation helped the company tell a values-aligned story while scaling its online presence.
Outcomes
Market Leadership: Brilliant Earth became the market leader in the ethical jewelry segment less than three years after launch.
Top Organic Search Ranking: Brilliant Earth achieved and maintained the top organic search result for “conflict free diamond” and related terms, significantly increasing brand visibility and consumer engagement.
Consumer Trust and Sales: The educational resources and ethical stance of the brand empowered millions of consumers to purchase ethically sourced gemstones with confidence.
Wikipedia Recognition: The framing developed for Brilliant Earth's ethical stance shaped the Wikipedia entry on “conflict-free diamonds,” underscoring the brand's impact on the industry narrative.
Long-Term Brand Integrity: The original blend of ethical origins, consumer education, and brand promise has remained largely intact over its 20-year history, demonstrating the strategy's lasting impact.
Leadership & Impact
This project was about more than brand language—it was about reframing what fine jewelry could stand for. By embedding ethics into every aspect of the story, the early work helped spark a movement toward conscious consumerism in luxury markets. The clarity of this positioning was instrumental in shaping public perception and fueling Brilliant Earth’s rise as a trusted leader in its space.
