Camel Cigarette Brand Marketing

Submitted by: Alex Jups

Reynolds, eager to increase the sales of its fast-growing Camel cigarettes brand among women, is introducing a variety aimed at female smokers. The new variation, Camel No. 9, has a name that evokes women s fragrances like Chanel No. 19, as well as a song about romance, Love Potion No. 9.

But don t look for a Jo Camel to join Old Joe the dromedary on Camel packages, displays or posters. Rather, Camel No. 9 signals its intended buyers with subtler cues like its colors, a hot-pink fuchsia and a minty-green teal; its slogan, Light and luscious ; and the flowers that surround the packs in magazine ads.

For decades, Camel has been a male-focused cigarette; only about 30 percent of Camel buyers are female. By comparison, for competitive brands like Marlboro and Newport, women comprise 40 percent to 50 percent of customers. Almost half of adult smokers are women, so that limited Camel s potential.

Aiming tobacco ads at women is a longtime strategy. Documents from the files of the tobacco companies, released in 1998, indicated they had studied female smoking habits through research projects with names like Tomorrow s Female, Cosmo and Virile Female.

Decades ago, a sultry woman cooed, Blow some my way to a man smoking Chesterfield cigarettes in magazine ads from the old Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company. Ads for Chesterfield, Camel, Lucky Strike, Old Gold, Philip Morris and other mainstay brands featured female celebrities like Lucille Ball, Marlene Dietrich, Ris Stevens and Barbara Stanwyck.

Even Wilma Flintstone smoked, in animated commercials for Winston cigarettes that appeared during The Flintstones. The last cigarette commercial to be broadcast on American television, on Jan. 1, 1971, was for Virginia Slims.

One of the most famous moments in marketing took place in 1929, when Edward L. Bernays, widely considered the father of public relations, alerted newspapers that women would be smoking in public, during the Easter parade on Fifth Avenue, to promote equality of the sexes. He did not reveal he was paid for his torches of freedom effort by American Tobacco, the maker of Lucky Strike, which sought to encourage women to smoke.

Putting flavoring in a cigarette filter is nothing new for Reynolds or the industry.

Camel Exotic Blends, which was introduced in 1999, contained a pellet that provided the flavoring for such styles as Twista Lime, Kauai Kolada and Margarita Mixed.

But Reynolds stopped selling 28 styles of Camel, Kool and Salem cigarettes that featured certain flavors in 2006 as part of a settlement with 40 state attorneys general.

“There’s no way for consumers to know what’s in that capsule,” said Joel Spivak, the media-relations director with The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “We know that similar-flavored pellets have released dangerous chemicals when tested.

“That is why we are supporting Food and Drug Administration regulation of tobacco, currently being considered by Congress, which would require RJR to disclose the contents of their products.”

Bill Godshall, the executive director for Smokefree Pennsylvania, said that The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids publicly accuses all new tobacco products, especially those made by Reynolds of being target-marketed to children.

Godshall’s group promotes the use of potential reduced-risk tobacco products such as snus.

Pat Shehan, the owner of Tarheel Tobacco in Winston-Salem, said that Reynolds has established Camel as its growth brand among young adult smokers. He said that using the menthol capsule for Camel Crush can work.

“It’s smart on their part to use the Camel brand with this product. The general population of tobacco users is hesitant to use different brands,” Shehan said. “But there is a segment that will try new products, especially if they are marketed with a brand they know, and some will stick with the new product over their preferred style and brand.” Not everyone agrees.

Stephen Pope, the chief global-market strategist with Cantor Fitzgerald Europe said he believes that Camel Crush will join Eclipse and Premier as innovation failures.

Pope said that the introduction of Camel Crush is another example of an industry “recognizing that it is rapidly becoming socially undesirable to be a smoker.”

“I see this as a gimmick that will enjoy a very brief honeymoon,” Pope said. “After all, if a smoker wants a menthol taste, they can go to established brands such as Marlboro Green or St. Moritz.

“If it is a post-smoke fresh taste, then the smoker should turn to sucking a mint or brushing one’s teeth.”

Marketing Manager World Technology Network 2013 H Street, NY, 10001, USA 559-4812 // http://www.cigarette-store.org/

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