The manufacturers of Benson and Hedges increased the sales of one of its brands in 2007 by nearly €100 million-a-year in the United Kingdom on the back of a major redesign of its pack - the biggest increase that took place that year.
Japan Tobacco International, according to a study by the University of Stirling, later “explicitly attributed” the sales rise to the successful introduction of its Benson & Hedges “Silver Slide” pack, which was brought onto the market in late 2006.
Cigarette packaging is now “the primary marketing tool in jurisdictions with tight marketing controls”, according to the research carried out by Crawford Moodie and Gerard Hastings from Stirling’s Institute for Social Marketing.
Six years ago, Japan Tobacco International relaunched its “Mayfair” brand, using inserts in the packs telling smokers, firstly, that a redesign was coming, along with later messages saying that the cigarettes were produced “to the highest quality”.
Saying that the marketing contravened UK tobacco advertising restrictions, Moodie and Hastings argued: “Clear lessons emerge from the Mayfair case. Firstly, the cigarette pack is being used to undermine public policy.”
Meanwhile, the scientific journal, “Addiction” reports that plain-packing laws already introduced in Australia help to lower “the unconscious triggers” that encourage smokers to light up, but also help to dissuade non-smokers, or early-stage addicts not to go further.
Source: Mark Hennessy, Irish Times, 18/02/15
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