Sunday, September 26, 1999
Cigarette marketing targets night life
Bars, clubs sign up to sell brands
BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cigarette kiosks inside many Greater Cincinnati night spots contain only one brand. Small square napkins are emblazoned with a Camel or the Marlboro man. So are the matchbooks and ashtrays.
Ask the bartender for some smokes, and there is only one kind available.
What may seem like forced brand loyalty is actually an acutely-targeted marketing trend catching on in Greater Cincinnati dance clubs and watering holes.
Enter the age of the “Camel Club.”
“Night clubs are excellent venues for us because they are age restricted and uncluttered,” said Carole Crosslin, spokeswoman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, which makes Camel cigarettes.
“Bars also offer an environment that is smoker friendly.”
Night spots and bars are the new advertising billboards for the big three tobacco makers. In the wake of last year's $206 billion tobacco settlement, cigarette makers agreed to cut back their sponsorship of large-scale events.
Sponsorship of smaller events and venues — such as activities at night spots — is not restricted under the agreement.
Led by Chicago-based KBA Marketing, the Camel Club promotion signs up night spots to sell only Camel products. In exchange, the venues get free advertising, $1,500, and free napkins, match books and ashtrays, called “bar essentials,” stamped with the Camel logo.
Whether the night spot is in Covington, Clifton, the East End or on Cincinnati's Main Street, chances are owners have signed up to be Camel merchants, host Marlboro bar nights or sponsor test drives on the Kool racing simulator.
The practice is already entrenched in the larger cities of Chicago and New York, where such alliances have existed for as long as five years. In a recent issue of The Village Voice, an alternative weekly in New York City, Marlboro took out full-page ads to promote their cigarettes and happenings at dozens of clubs.
“We know we have a large number of smokers who attend bars and clubs and it's a social environment that lets us interact directly with our customers,” said Katie Otto, a spokeswoman for Philip Morris, which makes Marlboro.
Next week Philip Morris will bring its Marlboro Ranch promotion to Cincinnati. People can register to win a trip to one of three Philip Morris ranches — two in Montana and one in Arizona. This summer, Brown & Williamson's Kool cigarettes gave Cincinnati bar patrons a chance to try Indy-style car racing on the Kool cigarette racing simulator.
Bartender Susan Vitello, who works at Allyn's Cafe in the East End, said the staff gets free cigarettes and a cut of the cigarette sales as a Camel Club participant.
“We do promote them to a certain extent,” Ms. Vitello said. “If someone asks for a pack, all we have to give them is Camels.”
Teaming with Camel can also mean free advertising. For the Cock & Bull in Covington, a mention in CityBeat on the weekly “Camel Page (Your Guide to Urban Nightlife)” means added exposure.
The CityBeat ads cost R.J. Reynolds $1,075 to run once a week.
KBA Marketing developed this marketing strategy for Camel as a way to combat aggressive Marlboro marketing. KBA is a lifestyle trend firm that specializes in customers who are less susceptible to traditional advertisements. KBA claims $120 million in accounts with such clients as R.J. Reynolds and Nike.
Camel Clubs also let “Camel reps” come inside to sell packs and take down a buyer's name and address for promotional mailings.
Interaction with these hip, young sales people increases sales and pushes the personal marketing strategy.
“Personal selling is an important part in switching people to Camel,” Ms. Crosslin said. “And the reps help build our relationship with bars.”
Personal selling is the most expensive form of advertising sales, said Rick Roth, an advertising professor at the University of Kentucky. Yet the tobacco makers have done their homework. Research shows that bar patrons tend to look to their bartenders as trendsetters.
“Markets look at influencers, people the target market looks to for influence,” Mr. Roth said. “In the young adult group peer influence is very strong and when they are presented with an attractive, outgoing, nice personality, it creates a positive outlook for the brand.”
The alcohol industry has employed the same tactic for years in an attempt to promote their brand in a feel-good atmosphere.
Tobacco critics say bar marketing is more of the same kinds of advertising that the tobacco settlement sought to end.
Dave Myers, director of the American Cancer Society's Hamilton County unit, said the society will continue to support legislation that limits cigarette ads.
“This form of marketing is just another tactic by tobacco companies to gain new, younger consumers as well as maintain current smokers,” Mr. Myers said.
The three tobacco makers declined to say how much they spend on their bar marketing programs.
At York Street Cafe in Newport, benefit from a partnership with Camel means extra money to put on concerts and special events, said manager Ryan Stout.
Bar marketing is also cost efficient for tobacco makers, said Mark Smith, a Brown & Williamson spokesman.
“When we are in a bar we know they are all adults and for some reason there tends to be more smokers in a bar setting than in any other kind of situation or gathering,” Mr. Smith said. “We've been so criticized for some of the messages that are allegedly reaching kids that this is one way we can ensure kids aren't marketed to.”
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