The gold rush

The Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) and gold have a magical connection. Gold forms part of Dubai’s commercial heritage. And the precious metal is used to promote Dubai in different corners of the world as tourists buy gold souvenirs and take them home.

As the world comes together to celebrate the DSF, the Dubai Gold & Jewellery Group (DGJG) has come up with a unique promotion. “For the current edition of the DSF, the DGJG offers tourists and residents an opportunity to take home the ‘EXPO 2020 – Candidate City Dubai’ gold coin as a souvenir. These finely crafted coins will further promote awareness on the bid process,” says Biju Joy, general manager, DGJG. The special edition gold coins celebrate Dubai’s candidature status for EXPO 2020.

Dubai, UAE, is competing against four other candidate cities to host the 2020 World Expo, including Thailand, Russia, Turkey and Brazil. “The winning city will be announced in November 2013 following a vote by the 161 member nations of the Bureau International des Expositions — the international organisation responsible for overseeing the bidding, selection and organisation of World Expos,” said Joy.

“This DSF, the gold promotion is extra special making several hundred shoppers winners. The hourly winning proposition gives away 500 EXPO 2020 coins (22 carat, four grams each). It enhances the number of gold winners during DSF 2013 from 33 (32 daily winners and one mega winner, traditionally) to 454 this year (including the raffle winners). This promotion is, in fact, changing the perspective of winning during DSF.”

SMS and raffle draws are applicable for purchase of jewellery worth Dh1,500 or an “EXPO 2020 Dubai Candidate City” gold coin that costs Dh800. SMS draws are conducted every one hour from 11am to 10pm for 32 days. And, one mega SMS draw is conducted at the 13^th hour everyday with a chance to win three gold coins (all SMS received on the day will be eligible for the daily mega draw), resulting in 13 winners every day. Sunday sees the weekly mega raffle of one kg. The final mega SMS draw will be on the 32^nd day with a chance to win 20 gold coins of four grams each (80 grams). All SMS received during the campaign will be eligible for the mega draw.

“There is gold to be won every hour. The mechanism is that you send your raffle coupon number to the number 3700, which is the short code printed on the raffle coupon. A system maintained draw takes place every hour and the winner gets one gold coin, which is 4 grams,” says Joy.

Thus every customer gets five chances to win, two in the raffle draws and three in the SMS draws. All prizes are in the form of minted coins, unlike earlier years when gold was given in bars. “The total value of the promotion would be Dh3 million in gold and up to Dh2 million in prizes for the purchase of diamonds and watches,” he adds.

“Tourists buy coins and gold jewellery. Their support is important to the ‘Expo 2020’ bid as well. Almost 8,000 odd raffle coupons are given away daily with info on Expo 2020. So the personal reach in 32 days is immense. This is a huge impact in terms of supporting the Expo 2020 bid. Incidentally, the year 2020 coincides with the 50^th anniversary of the UAE and the 25^th anniversary of the DGJG. We have an evolving plan to promote Dubai,” Joy reveals.

According to a study by the World Gold Council, consumer demand in the UAE stood at 6.6 tonnes for jewellery and 2.1 tonnes for bars and coins in the third quarter of 2012. In terms of value, $351 million worth of jewellery and $112 million worth of bars and coins were consumed — with Dubai taking a lion’s share of the total consumption.

“Dubai is now the best place in the world to buy gold, based on factors such as price, quality and credibility. Dubai is a pioneer in gold testing and has also become a global trading hub for gold and jewellery,” notes Sunny Chittilappilly, chairman, DGJG.

“We have seen the investment element coming back to gold. There is a new direction in terms of the increasing fondness for branded gold. We have also witnessed a huge increase in gold popularity among the youth,” he adds optimistically.

According to him, high-end jewellery, classic pieces and bridal jewellery are popular. People are now investing more than ever in jewellery for daily use. So jewellers are coming up with innovations in colour, material and designs.

Dubai is much more than simply a centre for selling the finest jewellery. Through partnerships and international conferences Dubai has assumed a far greater importance in the global marketplace clearly qualifying for the title ‘City of Gold’ and the “Jewellery destination of the Middle East” and hopefully “Expo 2020 Dubai”.

suchitra@khaleejtimes.com

Winning opportunities

• Total gold to be won in SMS draws — 2kg (500 gold coins)
• 13 kg gold to be won for raffle draws on jewellery promotion (1/4 kg x 32 days + 5 mega raffle draws) through raffle draws

>Total gold to be won including both promotions 13kg + 2kg = 15kg “EXPO 2020 Dubai Candidate City” gold coins.

>Total number of winners: 454 (417 winners on SMS + 37 winners on raffle draws). Earlier DSF promotions had only 33 winners.

Diamond Scratch ‘N’ Win promotion

• 
Total Prize (cash prizes) estimated at Dh2 million
• Minimum Purchase Value: Dh1,000.
• Mechanics: For a minimum purchase of Dh1,000 worth of diamond jewellery, pearls or watches, the consumer is entitled to one Scratch ‘n’ Win coupon.

Raffle draw winners

Manjula, an Indian tourist who won 250 grams says: “I felt like I was on top of the world. Incidentally, I was at the ‘Top of Burj Khalifa’ when I got the call. I got the raffle coupons after buying two pairs of gold bangles.”

MJM Zahran, a Sri Lankan and winner of the weekly mega raffle of one kg of gold first thought that it was a prank call. “When the caller gave me the coupon number and my personal details such as PO Box number I was convinced and was very excited. I could not believe my good fortune. I purchased jewellery worth Dh5,000 for my wife from Zaiba Jewellery. My wife was also excited and happy.