World Gold Council has rolled out a campaign, 'Moment is Gold', aimed at enhancing the relevance and aspiration of gold jewellery amongst Gen Z and millennials. 

We caught up with Arti Saxena, head - marketing, India, World Gold Council, to discuss the insight behind the campaign, changing perception around gold jewellery amongst the younger generation and more. 

Edited excerpts:

'Moment is Gold' marks a shift in the narrative around gold. What inspired this campaign, and what does it seek to communicate to today’s younger audience?

The entire campaign is based on consumer insights. At the World Gold Council, we do consumer surveys at regular intervals. Every three to four years, we invest heavily in terms of our efforts and resources to get consumer insights, understand what the trends are, and what consumers are thinking about gold jewellery. That is what has formed the basis of this campaign.

From a consumer survey, the foundational insight was looking at millennials' and Gen Z’s relationship with gold jewellery. Apart from this, we also work extensively on understanding the younger generation, as we are a young nation. 65% of our population is less than 35 years old. Therefore, it was very important that we go beyond understanding what they feel and perceive about gold jewellery.

We bumped into the thought that today’s generation is living in the present; they are living in the now. They are celebrating moments, small or big.

Gold purchases are mostly made on festivals like Dhanteras or Akshay Tritiya, or weddings. Gold buying is mostly milestone-driven, for instance, a promotion, an anniversary, or childbirth. While gold continues to be very strong on these occasions, the point is that today’s generation is also looking at the moments, small or big: the moments which are making a difference to their lives, something which they cherish and love. 

That’s where we felt that there’s a gap, that when we as a generation talk about gold, it’s a bigger occasion, but for today’s generation, it is not about that. They don’t want to wait for a big moment to celebrate; they have a small win, and they celebrate it. We felt that when they want to celebrate these small but meaningful moments, gold doesn’t get featured on that list. That’s where the ‘Moment is Gold’ campaign came about. It is essentially about putting the thought in the mind that when one wants to celebrate the smaller, important moments, celebrate them with gold. We are looking at how we can create a social currency for gold, targeting the younger generation.

You stated how purchasing gold has long been tied to traditional milestones. How is the campaign breaking that mould to connect with modern, everyday moments?

There are two different ways in which we are challenging the status quo. First is about celebrating the small moments. We've taken a lot of time to identify those moments that are relevant to Gen Z and young millennials. It’s not about any moment; it has to be something special that touched them, and they want to celebrate it. We did a lot of work around that and found those moments that are relevant to them.

On the other side of it, we have also gone quite bold and very, very unconventional with our choice of jewelry. With gold jewellery, the other problem that we stumbled upon is the fact that a lot of consumers who buy gold have a small complaint that the piece that they bought with so much love and emotion, quite often ends up going to the locker.

In the campaign, we have looked at a very unconventional view when we said, ‘don't put your gold jewellery in the locker’. The first film is showcasing Haath Phool as jewellery, and we totally believe that even if its very bold and unconventional, the point is do not put it in a locker. There is so much love and emotion involved, so why not wear it? In the film, the girl is just having fun and is not bothered about what’s happening, and is just enjoying the moment.

Our approach is twofold: we use emotional storytelling that resonates with young people, and we encourage boldness by promoting regular enjoyment of gold. The main message is that gold should be part of everyday celebrations, not left unused.

Can you tell us about the creative direction and storytelling approach behind ‘Moment is Gold’?

BBDO is our creative partner. We had a rigorous pitch process, working very closely with the top creative partners in the country. We selected BBDO because we believed that their way of thinking resonated with our thinking on how we want to disrupt the market and challenge the status quo.

It’s been a long journey. There's been a lot of conversation, first around understanding the consumer through the survey that we do. There's a lot of work that we did on understanding the consumer in isolation and what they're doing, and what it is that they love doing.

From those insights, we found some relevant stories, and even internally, we had a lot of collaboration within different teams. We also took feedback from the industry on the kind of occasions and storytelling that will resonate with the consumers.

In the campaign, we have a series of stories. It’s just the beginning; there are a lot of stories coming.

How will the campaign be rolled out across platforms — are you focusing more on digital, social, influencer-led strategies to reach the younger audience?

Ours is a digital-social first campaign. We want to talk to the younger generation and they are present on digital all day round. Definitely, the higher focus is on the mobile side. Within the digital space, we have looked at the new media, including OTT platforms. We have also looked at tech-based campaigns, which are about using technology for precision targeting, creating something interesting to engage the younger generation. Apart from this, we are also looking at television.

Our primary task is to drive relevance. Through our consumer surveys, we understand that there is an emotional disconnect with the younger generation. To get the emotional resonance with the younger generations, it is very important to be in impactful media. That's where television comes into play. In television, we have looked at mostly those programs where the viewership from the younger generation is high, for example, reality shows. Apart from this, we have also looked at print. Print is considered one of the most credible media in India. This is the onset of festivals, and there will be so many brands advertising, so consumers will be looking at print to see what appeals to them before they go out shopping.

But this also has a dual purpose, which is targeting the industry. This idea needs to be promoted heavily, and it is only possible when everyone in the industry comes together. We would like to believe that when the industry sees the campaign, they also respond well. The industry as a whole needs to think about how we leverage this thought in a bigger medium and talk about it. So, with print, we are also targeting the gold industry. 

The primary target right now on the front for us is reach. We are ensuring that we reach as many people as possible. We are also looking at a bit of an engagement. But as we move forward, in 2026, we will not only focus on reach because then there's a lot of repeat viewing that will happen, we will then look at how to engage.

It's being rolled out ahead of the festive season. When will it be running till, and how do you aim to break the festive clutter?

Our camping duration is around six weeks. We have rolled out the campaign a little ahead of the festive season. This is the time when people are thinking about what to buy for themselves and their loved ones. So the time of launch is perfect in terms of the onset of festivities, but at the same time, what we've done is gone a little ahead, so that there's less clutter and we ensure optimal visibility too. Apart from this, we truly believe that the way we have designed our campaign it will not just break the clutter for our industry, but across all the other categories as well. We are very excited to roll it out and see the consumer reaction.

How are you measuring the success of this campaign?

Success will mean making gold relevant and emotionally meaningful to the younger audience. We have long-term goals, measured by defined KPIs and surveyed consumer sentiment, to see if young people increasingly choose gold for celebrating both big and small moments and enjoy wearing it.

Have you seen a cultural or attitudinal shift among younger consumers in how they perceive and purchase gold?

Yes, our consumer survey clearly indicates this. Today's consumers are living in the now, they are celebrating moments. They're not waiting for the big moments to happen but celebrating life as it goes. That's one of the biggest changes, moving from the savings economy towards a consumption economy where we're beginning to spend, especially the youngsters. They're beginning to spend on themselves and their loved ones. They're also earning at a very early age, and because they have disposable income, they are also spending on things that they love to do. So clearly there's a huge change in our culture and our endeavour with this campaign is to create a social currency around gold jewellery, so that there's a lot of conversation among the millennials and Gen Z, and that would eventually lead to more gold buying.