You know the Starbucks story. Take a commodity product like coffee, make it superior, 
provide a unique purchase environment, and charge a premium price. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco is hoping the same technique will work for their new cigarette brand called Marshall Mc-Gearty Tobacco Artisans. This exclusive brand is hand-rolled (okay machine-rolled, but by hand) on demand from a single location, the Marshall McGearty Lounge in Chicago. Smokers visit the lounge, chose from nine different tobacco blends, which staffers roll on the spot for $ 8 a pack.
“This is our first step in connoisseurship for cigarettes,” says RJR senior marketing director Brian Stebbins. “The lounge is all about introducing the brand. We looked at how connoisseurship started in other categories, like wine, coffee and chocolate. There's always a place for the full brand immersion experience.”
There is no advertising for the brand. R.J. Reynolds markets the product via taste-tests, inviting visitors to sign-up at the lounge. Marketing Blurb does not smoke (or go with girls who do,) but if we did smoke, this is where we would go for the right tobacco and to be seen with the right people.
Comment Preview