Booting Up the Menthol - Marlboro cigarettes

Brandweek, Oct 18, 1999 by Mike Beirne

Philip Morris, far from retreating from its core franchise in the face of accumulated legal, political and marketing challenges, is launching the second Extension of its mighty Marlboro franchise in two years with a test in two cities this month of Marlboro Milds, which fills a crucial gap in the brand's offerings in the $13 billion menthol-cigarette segment. Initial print ads capture Mild's laid-back cool with a simple image of cowboy boots proppoed on a table.

The new line, testing this month in Atlanta and Pittsburgh, sports a blue package with subtle menthol-evoking hues and is positioned in the Marlboro family between Marlboro Light and Marlboro Ultra Lights as a unique alternative for smokers looking for the relaxed, mild side of menthol. Blue-screened ads from Leo Burnett, Chicago, invoke the brand's traditional Western imagery to connote a laid-back attitude, showing a pair of cowboy-boot-clad feet propped on a table. Headline proclaims, "Serene Moments in Marlboro Country," with the tagline, "New Marlboro Milds."

Ads will run in newspapers, magazines and alternative publications in those markets, buttressed by price and product promotions and direct mail. Budget likely is a not-insignificant $1 million for the two markets. Total measured media during the first half for the brand was $38.6 million, per Competitive Media Reporting, and PM currently is breaking a $100 million corporate image campaign casting itself as helper of hungry, abused women and flood victims.

Milds is Marlboro's first extension since Ultra Lights launched nationally in 1998, following several years in test. Ultra Lights and Lights do not skew toward a particular demographic, say retailers, but rather attract consumers desiring various shades of menthol taste. Milds, a medium menthol brand with a middle range of tar and nicotine, plugs in a niche PM did not have just as Brown & Williamson had earlier done with its Kool Milds brand.

Menthol comprises about one-fourth of the industry's $52 billion in annual sales. Marlboro's second-quarter sales declined 8.6% to 37.32 billion units from the year-earlier period, per The Maxwell Report, Richmond, Va.