MUMBAI: Aparna Kulkarni, a marketing heavyweight with a glittering CV, has hung up her diamond-studded boots at the Natural Diamond Council, after a six-and-a-half-year stint. She's leaving behind a legacy of celebrity-fuelled campaigns and a digital strategy that, one might say, was rather brilliant.

Kulkarni, who previously cut her teeth at media giants like Star India and Times Network, joined the Diamond Council in 2018, tasked with building their Indian consumer marketing strategy. She's credited with transforming the brand’s digital presence, turning it into a “content publishing platform” – a fancy way of saying she made diamonds look good online.

Her tenure saw a focus on “luxury content creation,” celebrity endorsements, and a PR blitz to polish the diamond narrative. She also dipped her hands deep into the nitty-gritty of performance marketing, tracking digital metrics and strategising annual social media plans. No mere baubles, then, but hard graft.

"It felt like home," Kulkarni said of her time at the council, adding that she's "equally excited about what's next."

She offered a heartfelt thanks to colleagues, and a cheeky "may the diamond prices keep going north!"

One imagines a few champagne flutes were raised.

Her departure leaves a vacancy for a marketing director who can maintain the brand's digital sparkle and keep the celebrity endorsements shining. The diamond industry, it seems, just lost one of its brightest facets.