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Does Pink Sell Cigarettes for Women?

Thankyousmoking

I am not a smoker, so there is a lot about what might compel someone to smoke that I cannot grasp.  However, when I read Stuart Elliott’s recent article (reg. required) in The New York Times about the new Camel No. 9 cigarette specifically aimed at women, I had to put this out there: Do female smokers really choose brands mainly based on the external issues (color of packaging, sleekness of shape, clever slogans and well-placed flowers in ads) as opposed to taste?   And – would that be adult women or younger women who, you’d think, might be more swayed by such things as the fashion of the smoke? 

Elliott points out that Camel No. 9 "signals its intended buyers with subtler cues like its colors, a hot-pink fuchsia and a minty-green teal; its slogan, ‘Light and luscious’; and the flowers that surround the packs in magazine ads."

Doesn’t this sound like something right out of that film parody of the tobacco industry: Thank You For Smoking?

Cressida Lozano, the VP for Marketing of the Camel brand, is quoted saying that the Camel No. 9 introduction is all about giving adult smokers a choice, and is part of the brand’s plan to "focus on products that are ‘wow,’… that add fun and excitement."

Pink is indeed a trendy color these days, and it definitely sells cellphones, iPods and more.  Still, despite current pink popularity – I’m not so sure that Camel No. 9 has much chance of gaining any real market share with smokers based on such accessory-like marketing.

What do you think?  Does the introduction of this new cigarette serve female smokers in any particularly unique way – enough to inspire someone to try or switch brands?  If a smoker did try a pack of Camel No. 9, would it be because of the pink packaging or something more along the lines of tobacco taste/flavor?

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Friday, February 16th, 2007 in Media Bits

  • Tiffany
    Ive been smoking for the last year [since I was 16], and as soon as No. 9's came out I had to have them. I usually smoke Turkish Royals from Camel, because it said "Royal" on it, and the pretty print on it. I also LOVE smooth cigs, and when No. 9's came out, I was so stoked that it had pink foil on the inside, and that these cigs were so smooth, I have made so many of my friends transfer cigs, and now all we smoke is No.9's either regular or menthe, I LOVE NO.9'S!!!
  • Thanks for all the insights - especially from the smokers. It is all the more interesting that this Camel 9 campaign was really just solely marketing and that the bottomline, taste, was not addressed. Just like with anything - cute packaging works to draw new users/buyers, but if the quality isn't there, women won't become long term converts.
  • Olivia
    As a teen smoker (now seventeen, started when i was 13), I can say surely say I know who the No.9's are marketed to. I hadn't actually heard of them until the guy at the convenience store recommended them, saying something along the lines of how they were getting real popular. Of course seeing the pink and black, I was immediately attracted; chic colors along with an obvious Chanel association.The tiny pink camel on the all white cigarette was pretty cute, but other then that it could easily have been mistaken as a parliament. Now, I actually ended up hating the taste and the lightness, but I'm sure that if the if the whole thing had been sexy pink I'd have sacrificed the taste and made the switch.
  • i tried these cigarettes (my 'usual' brand is Kamel Red Lights in the orange and red box were sold out) and they are gross. i mean, all cigarettes are gross, obviously, but these are downright nasty. i smoked three of them in the course of a night with a friend of mine and they left a horrible, salty taste in my mouth for a week. i'm not a big smoker but usually have a few when i'm drinking and man, these just turned me off from smoking for two weeks. i guess that's a good thing though, right?

    nice packaging (pink and black are my favorite colors), gross taste. i don't know why anyone would want to smoke these. nasty to the nines.
  • If you are interested in more, Erin Kobayashi interviewed me for a more thorough Toronto Star piece on this Camel No. 9 campaign:
    http://www.thestar.com/Health/article/184742

    And, there is a great blog post on it by "Women's Voices for Change" as well: http://www.womensvoicesforchange.org/2007/02/so_theyre_going.html
  • My friend Nora Lee shared my post with her women's email forum, and gathered some interesting insights on the Camel No. 9 campaign:

    I think established smokers have brand loyalty, and smoke their brand because of taste and habit.
    I think they might try a new brand based on slogan, attractiveness of packaging....but established smokers rarely try new brands. I think the packaging and slogans go more toward new smokers.
    Remember..."You've come a long way baby, to get where you've got to today; you've got you're own cigarette now, baby, you've come a long long way."? That was the Virginia Slims jingle in the early 70's. Now, I don't smoke Virginia Slims, but I have a brass key fob that says "You've come a long way baby" that I'm CERTAIN was a cigarette company giveaway around that time. And when I was 17, the slogan resonated....
    Andrea (smoker)

    OK, back when I was younger and stupider--and smoked--pink would NEVER have influenced me (I'm just not a pink kind o' gal). BUT--I was heavily influenced by other colors, patterns, images connected with certain brands. I was in college and focusing on a marketing concentration in my journalism major, so I really did think about such things. (As opposed to thinking about the important stuff, like the fact that cigarettes were going to kill me.
    Pat (former smoker)

    And my two cents. My knowledge of teen girls makes me think that this new packaging is aimed at young, first time smokers who have nothing to base their decisions on so they go for cool packaging. Anything to make them appear older than they are.

    Nora

    Pink cigarettes would have probably been something I would have smoked in my 20's when indeed I did smoke. There were those colored cigs, but forgot their name, and I did smoke them for awhile, but they were tres expensive. Also smoked Shermans…Dunhills on the cruise ships (lit with my fancy Dunhill lighter)…Marlboros in Mexico…Seven Star in Japan (extracted from a beveled glass and silver filigree cigarette case I bought there that I still have, sitting on a table in my home, alongside a dragon carved ivory cigarette holder I also purchased there)…tried Camel filters for a while, but really, was always a Marlboro girl. Just liked the taste best!

    Soozi
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