Philip Morris Marketing Analysis
Definition of Industry Market Concept
The tobacco industry consists of many competitors trying to satisfy a specific customer need. Companies such as Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, Brown and Williamson, and Lorillard hold almost the entire market share in the tobacco industry. While each company has different advertising and marketing techniques, they all target the same customer group. Tobacco companies try their best to generate interest in their particular brand or brands. Companies market a number of attributes that usually include, but are not limited to: taste, flavor, strength, size and image in order to distinguish themselves from competitors (Business Week 179, November 29, 1999). However, all tobacco companies are satisfying the same needs. Many long-time smokers are addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes. They smoke because the nicotine is needed to help them feel normal (Focus group). Many addicts go through withdraw without nicotine. All tobacco companies have nicotine in their cigarettes, which fulfills the need of long-time smokers. Other smokers depend on cigarettes in social settings. Many smoke to look sophisticated and mature. Tobacco companies make many kinds of cigarettes that target different groups. Social smokers may perceive certain brands as more sophisticated, and therefore they shy away from other lesser-known brands. For example, a person who smoked generic cigarettes at the bar may be perceived as uncultured. On the other hand, the smoker with the Marlboro Lights may be more socially accepted because they have a brand name product (Focus group). Many types of cigarettes cater to the many markets of smokers who want to portray a certain image in social settings. Tobacco companies do not create the need to smoke, but try to generate interest in their particular brand (Hays, New York Times, November 24, 1999). Overall, the tobacco companies satisfy consumer demand for the millions of adult Americans who choose to use tobacco by providing differentiated products to different target markets of smokers.
Industry Concept
The tobacco industry has developed a rather large array of products. Companies such as Philip Morris, Lorillard, RJ Reynolds, and Brown and Williamson, as well as the other smaller competitors, all provide the same product- cigarettes. The tobacco industry is filled with fierce competitors. But underneath the brand names and images, the product is relatively the same. All tobacco companies produce an inhalant that is made with tobacco, tar, and nicotine. These materials are rolled in a special kind of slow-burning paper for longer smoking time.
The ingredients depend on the product that is being made; flavoring and other types of tobacco are some of the ingredients used. Computers in the factory keep track of the types of tobacco and the blends. Moreover, technology and machinery make the cigarettes and other various products. For example, when making cigarettes, the cutting of the tobacco, cigarette paper, and filters are fed continuously through a cigarette making machine (Van Willigin, Eastwood, 1998). Finally, the tobacco is packaged using packing machines. The machines put the products into brand packs, wrap the packs, and then put them into cartons and cases. The manufacturing sites distribute the tobacco to different companies to be sold, in the forms of cigarettes, snuff, cigars, and
Nonetheless, there is no product differentiation. This can be a negative aspect for the company, since the lawsuits against tobacco industry are mounting and are increasing threat for the company.
“You’ve got what it takes – Salem Spirit” (Salem Lights). The RJ Reynolds Cigarette Company makes this daring claim, and it certainly sounds enticing. After all, the advertising poster depicts a group of young and vibrant professionals spending energy and fun filled time swinging on red balloons over the crisp lake, definitely experiencing the good life after having consumed this product. Even though the art of advertising has existed successfully for thousands of years in order to promote goods and services, the methods utilized have evolved significantly. Originally, vendors merely raised awareness of the existence of their offerings, but in modern times corporations actually distort the value of a product. As the Federal Trade Commission
Constant innovationthis company's growth is driven by their constant innovation. Constant innovation is the key to their enterprises future. When they signed the tobacco settlement agreement in 1988 it fundamentally changed the way cigarettes are advertised, promoted, and sold in the US. This impacts every aspect of Philip Morris USA's marketing practices. While they are complying with this agreement they are also being responsible by marketing to adult smokers. They also have policies and practices in place to address all issues with their primary stakeholders along with their secondary stakeholders such as the general public, public health communities, parents, community leaders, decision makers, and the government (Altria, 2008).
This research seeks to reveal the importance of marketing strategies in today’s complex and competitive business world. For this reason, this study will discuss various theories, issues and approaches of the marketing linking them with W.L. Gore & Associates and thereby propose the best options, ideas, strategies and techniques for the improvement of the company. To reach the points, this study will especially collect secondary and qualitative data and information.
Laird, Pamela, “Consuming Smoke: Cigarettes in American Culture.” University of Colorado at Denver. Author of Advertising Progress: American Business and the Rise of Consumer Marketing. 1998
While todays major tobacco producers deny that they market to the youth. However, we still see them subliminally targeting children through magazine advertisements, store posters, and Internet ads. In addition, they continue to use product placement strategies in mov...
The intended target audience has varied a lot the past century. Cigarette use within the United States military increased significantly during their entrance into World War l, in 1918, because several tobacco companies began targeting military personnel because soldiers used cigarettes as a physiological escape from the horrors of their daily lives. However, women were also especially targeted during the years of war in America, as most consumer goods were aimed at women since the majority of men were at war. To begin with, women were portrayed in cigarette ads as non-smoking admirers of smoking men, however, by 1927 cigarette adverts with women smokers began to appear in women’s magazines. In the years that came, brands such as Marlboro, continued to attract the female audience into buying cigarettes by using slogans like ‘’Mild as May’’ and altering the product by printing red filters to hide lipstick stains, which they called ‘’Beauty Tips to Keep the Paper from Your Lips’’ and attracted a lot of women, despite the fact that woman smokers were not socially accepted yet. The Marlboro cigarette brand, which was essentially launched as a woman’s cigarette, continually launched advertisement campaigns in order to keep attracting them to their products. Cigarette companies persuaded their audience through beauty themes, by implying they would look great as a result of weight-loss by choosing to smoke cigarettes instead of eating and by using toddlers in adverts to attract attention in the female region through motherhood. An example of this is Appendix 2, from a collection of cigarette advertisements from the time (1951), shows a baby saying, ‘’Before you scold me, Mom… maybe you’d better light up a Marlboro,‘’ this makes w...
Encyclopaedia of Children’s (2013) stated that smoking is a form of inhalation of smoking from different forms of tobacco which include cigarettes, pipes, and cigars. Cancer Research (2012) and the World Health Organisation (2013) have confirmed that most tobacco products contain very high level of nicotine which can have additive effect and are made from tobacco leaf which are s...
Some actions should be taken on tobacco products because the risk of getting cancer is high. People vape everywhere in today’s society, blowing a massive amount of smoke that lingers in the air and could cause people nearby to cough or even children near it to cough. There needs to be a policy to ban cigarettes, it kills the smoker, in addition, it could kill the person exposed to the smoke from cigarettes. “The cigarette is also a defective product, meaning not just dangerous but unreasonably dangerous, killing half its long-term users” (Proctor). Cigarettes are not healthy in any way making it a defective product, it mainly kills the smoker rather than helping them.
Smoking cigarettes is a detrimental practice not only to the smoker, but also to everyone around the smoker. According to an article from the American Lung Association, “Health Effects” (n.d.), “Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., causing over 438,000 deaths per year”. The umbrella term for tobacco use includes the use of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigs and chewing tobacco. While tobacco causes adverse health consequences, it also has been a unifying factor for change in public health. While the tobacco industries targets specific populations, public health specifically targets smokers, possible smokers, and the public to influence cessation, policies and education.
One way that the tobacco industry can be more ethical is changing their advertising strategy. I believe that today’s advertising strategy is very misleading about cigarettes. Examples of this unethical advertising is in Argentina, here 20 percent of television advertising is spent on smoking commercials, as well as in countries in and around Africa there are billboards that depict a man in a business suit stepping out of a black Mercedes as a chauffeur holds the door. This displays that cigarettes make people classy and sophisticated, making cigarettes look not only harmless but stylish. Another good example of unethical depiction on cigarettes is in Nigeria; here they promote a cigarette for graduates, with a picture of a university and a student in a cap and gown. As if this wasn’t a misleading visual they add a slogan that says, "A very important cigarette for very important people." These ads and slogan are ...
The sale of cigarettes and tobacco is a multi-billion dollar industry, but is it truly worth all the problems that stem from their use? Health care costs are extremely high due to all the health problems associated with cigarettes and tobacco. Even though research has proven time and time again the harmful effects of cigarettes, and the rising cost of health care caused by cigarettes, our government will not take a stand and stop all manufacturing of the horrible toxins. Every year, new medical reports are issued regarding the harmful effects of smoking cigarettes. Hundreds of thousands of people around the world die every year from diseases caused by smoking.
Although it is beneficial for the economy for the production of tobacco products, it is extremely risky to use the product. According to researchers, second-hand smoke is terrible for everyone in the world who walks by someone who is exhaling. In the article by Robert Proctor “Why ban the sale of cigarettes? The case for abolition” states that cigarettes are the “most deadly object in the history of human civilization”.... ...
who.int - a. Almost 80% of the worlds smokers are middle class to lower class. This statistic that was taken from the World Health Organization, W.H.O., shows that around the globe it is the less educated making these choices. Big brands like Marlboro spend 70% of their profits on advertisements in 3rd world countries to try and get the people who do not know the consequences of smoking. In total tobacco companies spend over ten billion dollars on advertisements world wide. The advertisements that are going on on the covers are cartoon animals and images that show if you smoke you will be free.