Tracking
a Moving
Target
An update on
Tobacco Industry
Marketing and
Promotions
Content
– A little background first
– New and evolving tactics:
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Bar promotions and event sponsorship
Point of sale promotions & Powerwalls
Tactics on University / College Campuses
New products & Regional marketing tactics
Smoking in the movies & video games
Tobacco Marketing Expenditures
– From 1987 – 2000 industry spending on
marketing and communication  significantly
– In 2001 & 2002, Canadian tobacco
companies spent over $300 million on
marcom (NSRA)
Landmark Change to Tobacco
Marketing in Canada
– 2003: the Federal Tobacco Act bans
sponsorship advertising in Canada
– Advertising is now tightly regulated
Tobacco Marketing Expenditures
today
Today’s estimates of actual marketing
costs are obscured by new definitions:
• Hidden sponsorship
• Packaging
• Increasing pay-outs to retailers for
countertop displays and Powerwalls
Du Maurier “Signature Packs”
– “Restrictions on tobacco
marketing in Canada limited
our options.
– “We needed to differentiate
ourselves. We needed to give
consumers something that
provided added-value.”
– “This left us with one way to
develop and grow our brands –
the pack itself”
Bar Promotions
What’s new in Bar Promotions &
Sponsorship
– Promotions have become more subtle
– Sponsorship extends to entire bar
– Sponsored club renovations including
DSRs, outdoor & patio smoking areas
– Similarly subtle event sponsorship
Seven Nightclub and Lounge
Export A’s “silent” event sponsorship
– Initiated in 1998
– Expanded in 2001
– Currently sponsor:
• Wakestock
• Extreme Music Fest
• X-team bar visits
across Canada
Not so silent, is it …
Point of purchase promotions
Restrictions on
tobacco
+
advertising and
promotion
the Elimination
of sponsorship =
Resource
Re-allocation
Redirected towards Point of Purchase Sales
http://www.nsra-adnf.ca/cms/file/pdf/Tobacco_Powerwalls.pdf
Power walls
–Convenience stores are
the Industry’s main
channel for marketing
and distribution
–Arguably the most
important advertising
medium available to the
tobacco industry (NSRA)
http://www.nsra-adnf.ca/cms/file/pdf/Tobacco_Powerwalls.pdf
Power Walls
– $300M spent on marcom in 2002
– $77M paid to tobacco retailers in same
period for stocking tobacco products
(NSRA)
– The average convenience store receives
$1,500 a year from the tobacco industry
(ACNeilson)
Preferential pay backs
– POP advertising expenditures are higher in
convenience stores near schools and malls
– More money spent on POP to stores on
university campuses
– Student Federation @ UOttawa offered $7500 to
stock power wall displays at their campus store,
– Tobacco Free Ottawa U successfully lobbied
against this sponsorship and the SF stopped
accepting $’s in 2005
POP … not just for youth
Tobacco on campus project
• 22 universities surveyed
• All had been approached and
had participated in a form of
tobacco marketing
• 76% sold tobacco products on
their campuses (stores, bars
etc)
Tobacco on Campus
Smoke-Free policies
• Regulate smoking mainly in
residences, or campus bars
• Few regulated campus-wide
• Only U of T has rules against
investing their (OUR) funds in
tobacco companies.
Tobacco NOT on campus
– Growing list of smoke-free campuses:
• Dalhousie, Lethbridge, Lakehead, Carleton
– New movements
• Alberta’s Tobacco Free Campus advocates for
policy changes across the province
• E-BUTT
• Leave the Pack Behind
Smoking in video games
– Similar research to that done on impact
of tobacco use in films (Villani, S. MD)
– Primary effects of media exposure (video
games) are increased violent and
aggressive behavior, and increased highrisk behaviors, including alcohol and
tobacco use
Journal of American Academy of child and adolescent psychiatry (2001)
Smoking in Video Games
– Entertainment Software Ratings Board
– Ratings more comprehensive and
specific than the film industry
– 24 content descriptors (on back)
– Includes tobacco reference and use
Smoking in Video Games
– One search for
tobacco reference
yielded 7 games
– 4 rated “everyone”
– 3 rated “Teen”
Why must tobacco be referenced in children’s video games ??
In summary
We’ve talked about:
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Target marketing in bars, campuses
Slient Sponsorship
Point of sale promotions
Smoking in video games
Call to Action
1.
Support youth-driven tobacco industry denorm !
2.
Expose hidden industry marketing tactics
3.
Document actual marketing costs including
listing fees and pay-outs to retailers
4.
Advocate for policy change and a province wide
ban on smoking and tobacco sales on Ontario
university / college campuses
5.
Denormalize tobacco industry products aimed
at youth
6.
Endorse the exclusion of tobacco use in movies
and video games