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THE tL~RLBO~O SUCC£S$ STORY ml~ml~mm~mln~=~=~inmma Background Marlboro has been the prime cigarette success Btory In the United $~a~es for the past three decades. Today more than one out of every f$ve s~okers uses Marlboro° Clven Marlboro'$ high penetration among young adult 6mokera, indlc~tfons favor continued SUCC~BB got the bra~d The key question is wha~ gave Harlboro its Initial s~ccesi° The brand was tntrodue~d as a woman~g cigarette, with a red ~lp so that Zlpstick ~rks wouldn't ~how. How did Philip Morris ~anage ~o Bo change ~be image that HarZboro la no~ seen as the epltomy of masculin~ty while l~ con~n~¢s ~o g~ow d~a~a~i~ally~ Th~ 8~¢¢ess o~ ~arlbaro ~race~ to three elemen~a~ appropriate advertising; a superior product; and consfstency throughout. Approprl&t~ Adv~rtfBlng Klthougb ~rlbcro started as a feminine brand, starting in 1954 it beca~ ~b~ f~rst ~iga~e~te brand ~o h~ve a true masculing image. Ther~ was a n~ed for ~big s~rong masc~If~e i~age to overcom~ the pas~° Not only did Marlboro used to be for women, with the aforementioned red mouthpie~e, bu~ ~he brand was an early ftl~r. Filters a~ ~be ~t~ w~r~ described by Leo gurnet~ as "sissy". Real men didn'~ smoke fil~¢~ tipped cigarettes. A~var~lsing for flltera focused on everything fro~ dancing packageg to endorsement! by de~is~g, nothing pxr~icularly m~lt~e° To counteract th~s heritage. Marlboro had ~o utllize th~ most ~ascullne i~age ~ha~ could be found. Marlboro sold mas¢~llnity in 1954 ~y being the firs~ brand ~o ~se ~re~ m~n~ versus the p~or modelB. Al~d what m~I ~y 8bowed football pla~ers, eo~boys~ airplane pi~ots~ an~ ~lloYB. T~s~ ~er~ ~ough, real ~¢n, who in no way r~se~blnd the ~odel~ o~ the pas~° The~ v~r~ ~b~ g~rs~ '~lt~e o~ lifet' aspira~on~l ads ev~ 6e~n by t~ c~gare~e smoking American ~a~° The ~d~ were no~ Ju$~ masculine, bu~ ~ere 6ingle-~ln4edly ~sculine° They portrayed manly, rugged men doing manly~ rugged ~ob~° There wa~ a high degree ~f sex appeal aZso assoelat~ wl~b all adv~r~ising a~ this time. as television advertising featured Julie London - one of the aexiest wo~en of ~he tt~e - singing the Marlboro che~ song. The C1¢s~ ~mpl~ca~ion wBI ~b~ if one smoked ~arlboro, one could obtain a woman like 3ulte. g~ ~o

The Marlboro advertising vas overtly masculine, but had an easy sale as dt was dn accord with the hey media of the ¢i:eo In the mid to late 1950"s in the United States there were over fifty cowboy shovs on television in any week, These cowboy shows were preeeeded and followed by hard-bitten private detectives, pilots, mdldtary and war shows, and other "macho" forms of entertainment, Sports programming was Just beginning, and llve football ga:as enjoyed huge audiences. How appropriate that interrupting theme cowboys were the Marlboro cowboy; interrupting the football game was the Marlboro football player; interrupting the ~dIl drama was the Marlboro sailor. Aud don't forget that Julie London, a key popular singer of the day, was singing the Marlboro theme throughout. Marlboro was also the right advertlsgng In the right place. The decades beginning wlth the late 1950"s were becoming more and more turbulent. America's dnvolvement In the ~ar in Vietnam was beginning to heat up. Plower Power was beflnnlng in the con.try. ~omeu were rebelling against their traditional place In American life. The pill and birth controlI and the concomitant upheaval dn sexual mores, were introduced. There was confusion, especially on the part of the young men, who were looking for roll models through the ~edia for the first time. Into this tl:e of conflicting values came the Marlboro man, a strong simple t:age presenting a key message for the young. The young responded, They liked and aspired to be like chts simple, masculine image, rlsing a~ove the turmoil of the country Into a well-defined role in the new soclety. Superior Product When Marlboro was reintroduced in 1954 dt had a fldp-open box. This was a new developmenti and was advertised in all media as a real point of difference. The key word "fresher" was used In most adver~lalng, implylng a tighter seal with less drying out than was found in soft-cup packages of the major competitors. This also gllowed the clgaret~e to retain a mlld character over a period of ti~e. Ang this new flavo¢ character was mentioned In the advertising, from the tag lines of the initial campalgn through the "better maklu'$" recipe campaign of 1958. This mlld character In s eeooth, mellow cigarette, was erltlcsl to Marlboro's suceesso The reality was In direct contrast with the rugged image of the advertising "hero", but dt was an appropriate contrast. The times were Jus~ beginning to mppreciate light and natural items, health foods and low calories were Just being lntraduced, and Marlboro came in with • cigarette that promises macho hut delivered mild. The young male smokers, not yet ready for the harsh taste of the naJor competitionb could.project their manliness w~ile Jmoking • cigarette they could tolerate.

Note that while the cigarettes were mild and mellowB they were nor weak. .V.arlboro had a unique combination of full-flavored rich taste and mellow/smooth feel. That brlngm up perhaps the major point in f•vo~ of Marl~oro'e prc~oct. Marlboro has malutalned product superiority sl~ce •t least the edd-19$0°s. While the blend £e different, and not universally liked (thus the continued success of Winston. Viceroy. et •I) the rich/~ellow dichotomy was monitored and continued Co be preferred versos competitive productst especially among the critical younger male t•rget audie~ce. Consistency ThroughOUt Marlboro retained its consistent masculine l~ge ghroughout periods of dramatic change In the tenor of American life. There was minor evolution in the speoific creative• used, from the various role m~dels used in the introductory campaigns o~ the mid-50"s, through the older "macho" man/younger woman used briefly in 195g, ~rlth the cowboy seen as more Important through the 1950~s and 1960"so By 1974 the ¢o~boy had replaced the other male role models, but this change was more in the specific model used than in the overall character o£ the propositio~. In fact. the Marlboro ~a~n~ ~ersonified by the cowboy, had become so well kno~r~ that by the mid to late 1970s the brand ~as able to keep the lifestyle cues of horses and country without needing to show the cowboy himself; the life~yle was becoming as important - if not more Important In its conjuration of simpler rugged tl~m - than the san himself. The Marlboro proposition thus remained single-minded from the ~.d-1950"| to tee present. Marlboro was • rugged, masculine s~oke througout the liberal/conservative foment of the 1960"s and 1970"So Marlboro was consistent through ~hsnges in media; in fact the cowboy (and other real men) represented one of the few ca~paigns that worked as well in print as it did on television. The proposition •Iso remained consistent through the brand and style proliferation of the last twenty years. Marlboro did nor Jump on the bandwago, of lights, |00s. or ultras. If • new style looked promislr~, Philip Morris introduced • new freestanding brand to take advantage of it. A new style of Mlrlboro was only introduced after that style was generally accepted throughout the country. A~ditionally, wheu Harlboro did introduce a new style the advertising propo~itio, did Qot cha~geo Xf one were to eliminate ~be occasional words "now available in...", it would be impossible to discern if the idvertis~ng were for the parent mtyle or one of the new offerings. C~ C~ Gq

While the entire value s~ructure of llfe in ~erlca was changing, Harlboro was unlque in Its Conslste~eFo The propos£tlon woTked° The reason the proposition worked were sit11 valld. T~e propos£tlon vas not changed. The product also remained conwlstent ove~ t2me. The orlgi~al ~&rent style h~s been available slnce 1954. Eye. when other styles vere ~ntrod~ced. ~hey were intro~uce~ only afte~s acceptance (Includlng acceptance by me~) £n a packaging format consls~ent vi~h that of the parent. The f~al polnt on product conslstencF is Marlboro's quallty control over t$~o No~ only has produ~ superlorlty o~r competlt~on he~ maln~ai~ed, hu~ Internal q~allty a~d batch control have been con~Inually ~onltored. ~hlle ~here 18 one M~r~boro. PhIZip Horr£s m~nltors a~d changes ~he blend so ~ha~ the product s~ke~ by the eventual consumer ~g Consls~e~ regardless of season or geogrsp~¢ C~ncl~slo~ ~arlboro eas in the right place ac the rlghc time. The vorld, led by youR men, w~s ~eady for a rugged, ~as~ul~ne Cigarette that was m£1d ~o smoke. Harlhoro de1~v~ a~d. p~haps most i~or~ntlyi mad~ ~Io u~eded changes in a vorh£ng formula.

b.I .-r V'.= 22 20 18 16 14- 12 10 8 6 4 2 O 1950 MARLBORO SHARE OF ANNOTATED WITH GROWTH RATE MARKET ? / 13.-/ • I I I I 1955 1960 19~5 1970 ] I 1975 1980 1984

DEMOG~PHIC PROFILE ~L/AELBOR0 FAmilY (INDEXED TO TOTAL SMOKERS) ~LE 126 126 125 125 125 FEMALE 76 76 76 74 75 UNDER 25 254 25q 249 240 226 25-44 108 308 ll0 109 lOB OVER 44 57 35 3B 41 35 LESS TH~N $1%000 iO4 1DO 1DO 99 IO0 $15,000 - $28,999 102 102 103 108 103 OvER $30,000 93 97 96 86 92 LESS THAN ONE PACK/DAY i15 110 102 10B 109 ABOUT ONE PACK/DAY 104 104 105 ID2 102 MORE THAN ONE PACK/DAY 87 86 90 92 90 WHITE 103 103 i04 104 103 "BLACK 22 18 18 27 26 "OTHER 115 IDO 92 83 83 "CAUTION-SMALL EASES SOURCE: SWITCHING .STUDY == ¢,

MARLBORO FA~I LY. (INDEXED TO TOTAL SMOKERS) ~U ITTERSe 95 SWITCH OUT" 68 LOYAC ; 103 99 106 108 104 64 65 63 74 103 102 103 104 SWITCH WITHIN 13 16 18 24 24 SWITCH IN 42 39 43 q8 ~4 STARTERS 185 182 185 142 139 RESTARTERS 109 113 115 -- QINDEXED OVER FORMER SMOKERS ¢b

~RLBORO iNFLOW/C)UTFLOW ]9B1 1982 1983 ~gBh J (t~ot ~Inston ~Inston ~Inst~n Reporteu) ~ot Reported Not Reported KODL ~lnston KODL $olem Not Reported KOOL Cemel KOOL Wlnston Merit Winston i:inston ~erit Winston Generic Generic Come1 Come1 ~er%t ~erit Camel BARCLAY B&H Solem