MARLBOROS PRICE DROP

DESIGNING Marketing programs to build brand equityMARLBOROS PRICE DROPSubmitted to : Prof Sameer MathurBy Nandita pgp31277|section b|batch of 2017

BRANDING BRIEF

REASONS FOR PRICE CUT

Learning from the Branding brief and Kellers textbook

Marlboro Friday

Philips Morris InternationalEstablished in 1835 in LondonWorlds leading international tobacco companyOwns 6 of the worlds top 15 tobacco product and these are sold in 180 countries.Most famous brand is MarlboroOther brands are Kraft Foods, Miller brewing and SABMillerIn 2003 the company changed its name to Altria Group Inc.

History of Marlboro brand

Varieties

SmoothBlackMenthol27RedSilver72Gold

Print ads in different times

In all these Print ads the Marlboro is shown as a womens Cigarette.

The Cigarette was made specific to the needs and wants of the target consumers: A beauty tip is one of such examples

Print ads for price premium

Giving reasons to the consumer to pay a price premium

When companies fail to give this reason, consumers get attracted towards competitors

So Invest in value creation for price premium

Positioning for Men

Marlboro Man: A BRAND CHARACTER

When Philip Morris decided to target Male as well they reached Leo Burnett, a Chicago based advertisement company for repositioning.

That is how Marlboro man was created.

This depicts a rugged, adventurous, warrior and American version of explorer. Hence liked by all.

First Cowboy was: Clarence Hailey Long

Marlboro country

This theme was introduced in 1963

Here real cowboys were shown working and having Marlboro cigarette.

This place was named as Marlboro country where cowboys live and they only use high quality flavoured cigarette Marlboro.

TVC: COME TO WHERE FLAVOUR IS

Ad AnalysisThis ad is one of the most successful ad campaign of historyFocussed on Marlboro community: Come to where the flavour is, Come to Marlboro countryWith this campaign in place Marlboro with a market share of 1% went up to be the top 4 brands in 1 year.

Marlboro and Motorsport sponsorship

Motor bikes and other racing seriesEntered in motorcycling grand prix in 70s as personal sponsor of riders like Giacomo Agostini, Angel Nieto1983 sponsored Yamaha 500cc works team until 1996. These teams won 6 world championshipSponsored world rally championship with teams of Lancia and Mitsubishi.Appeared on helmets and suits of some best riders.

Marlboro controversiesPhilip Morris sold Canadian rights for Marlboro to Imperial Tobacco Canada in 1932They tried several times to reacquire these rights in 1950s but failedImperial tobacco Canada led a legal battle against Philip Morris for deliberately trying to confuse consumers by asking its Canadian affiliate companies to package cigarette similar to Marlboro with a tagline World famous imported blend.This legal battle was conquered by Imperial and Philip Morris had to withdraw.Marlboro also tried to suggest its brand on Ferrari even after ban by barcodes which was later removed.Marlboro man become infamous because of death of 4 cowboys who acted in Marlboro commercials.The deaths were due to Smoking diseases.

Current campaignsIn 2012 Philip Morris launched a new campaign to replace infamous Marlboro Man: Be MarlboroThis campaign is mainly focussed on youth and keeping up with new trends and time

SUMMARYThe branding brief given explained how Marlboro dropped its price and later justified the move by increased market share.Marlboro has used many brand characters such as: Marlboro Man, Marlboro country.It has actively pursued its branding strategy by marketing campaigns, sponsorships, line extensions etc.Successfully repositioning after established 25 years as women brand itself shows the capability of Marlboro as a brand.To keep up with changing time and new generation Marlboro again has launched its new campaign: Be Marlboro

DisclaimerThis slide is created by Nandita (PGP31277), an MBA participant at Indian Institute of Management. This assignment is completed under the guidance of Prof. Sameer Mathur, Marketing professor at IIM Lucknow as a part of Brand management subject.Thanks for your guidance and support