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ASH Daily news for 24 November 2011

HEADLINES

  • Is it possible to sell a premium cigarette brand in plain packaging?

    Philip Morris International is the first tobacco giant suing the Australian government over strict new branding restrictions, which it believes will cost it billions in the region, the Wall Street Journal reports.

    British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco Group are expected to follow.

    Why? Because their billion-dollar brands, like Marlboro and Parliament, will be crushed.

    Essentially, tobacco companies will be unable to distinguish themselves. And that has the tobacco giants worried. Cigarettes can separate themselves from competing products in three ways: by brand, by shape (long, short, etc.), and by general flavour (light, menthol, etc.). But within the confines of a given style or flavour, brand becomes the most valuable distinguishing factor among otherwise similar products.

    Earlier this year, shortly before legislation made its way to the Australian Parliament, a Philip Morris spokesperson told AdWeek the measures "would essentially amount to a confiscation of our brand in Australia."

    And that could very well be disastrous for the company. A November 2010 report by economic consultants in the U.K., commissioned by Philip Morris, says that "package is the most important method of branding still available" after a widespread crackdown on traditional advertising.

    The U.K. report, which specifically focuses on the impact plain cigarette packaging could have there, substantiates Philip Morris' bottom-line worries. It suggests a branding ban like Australia's would trigger an overall price reduction between 4.4% and 16.1%, because no-name discount brands could more easily compete. After all, they wouldn't have a highly recognizable brand (like Marlboro, for instance) to overcome.

    Source: Business Insider, 21 November 2011
    Link: http://read.bi/rV69wY

  • Smoking damages car resale values

    According to online remarketing specialists Autorola, smoking in your car could devalue its resale value by as much a £500. From the firm’s experience of selling vehicles in seventeen European countries, it calculated that values reduce by between £250 and twice as much, depending on the make and model of the car

    “The impact of smoking can impact residuals, particularly on the larger higher specified executive cars, to the point that it may not find a buyer if it hasn’t been thoroughly valeted,” explained Peter Grøftehauge, Autorola’s chief executive.

    The warning of the effects of smoking on resale value comes as the British Medical Association makes fresh calls to ban smoking inside cars after reviewing the evidence of the health threat posed by it.

    Source: Fleet Directory, 23 November 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/ubso45

  • How a text messaging programme helped smokers trying to quit

    Smokers trying to quit who took part in in a text messaging programme called txt2stop more than doubled their chance of kicking the habit.

    The study started with 5,800 smokers, age 16 or older, who were willing to make an attempt to quit smoking within the next month. Half received supportive and encouraging text messages designed to help them stay tobacco-free, five messages a day for the first five weeks and then three messages a week for the next 26 weeks. The other half received text messages every 14 days thanking them for taking part in the study.

    The programme, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, was also personalized. For example, smokers who had expressed concern about weight gain while quitting would receive more messages on weight control, exercise tips, and recipes. There were 186 different core text messages and 713 different personalized ones.

    At the end of the study, 542 participants reported six months continuous smoking abstinence. This was biochemically verified either by testing for the tobacco metabolite cotinine in their saliva or by carbon monoxide testing of their blood.

    The study offers evidence that a well-designed text messaging programme can be extremely helpful to people willing to embark on the difficult task of quitting smoking.

    Source: The Atlantic, 23 November 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/ugxZVo

  • Imperial has smokers covered in new push

    In the week the BMA called for a ban on smoking in cars Imperial Tobacco has launched a campaign to support smokers.

    The tobacco giant's Smoking Allowed campaign aims to support the 12 million adults who smoke by installing 'high-quality' smoking areas across the UK. The first area opened last week at Bristol airport, providing ventilation, heating, lighting, shelter and hand gel.

    Source: The Grocer, 19 November 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/tbZg7g

  • USA: Smoking ban cuts cardiac events 45%, Mayo Clinic says

    According to new research from the Mayo Clinic, the incidence of heart attacks and sudden deaths has almost halved since smoking bans took effect in south eastern Minnesota.

    The clinic said the data bolsters its fight to rid the nation's workplaces of secondhand smoke. It found a 45 percent decline in heart attacks and cardiac deaths.

    "That's just a staggering number," said Dr. Richard Hurt, the lead investigator and director of Mayo Clinic's Nicotine Dependence Center. "This is a policy that can be implemented at any legislative level — any city, any community, any state can do this."

    Source: The Seattle Times, 23 November 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/u1kSKm

  • Kenya: Tobacco Industry in Bid to Amend Act

    The tobacco industry has started a new campaign to repeal sections of the 2007 Tobacco Control Act it says are unconstitutional. In a letter to Ambassador Francis Muthaura and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, cigarette manufacturers claim some sections of the Act are hostile, incoherent and biased against them.

    The Prime Minister's office has consequently asked the Ministry of Public Health to see if any sections can be amended.

    The letter was signed jointly by BAT, Mastermind, Alliance One and Kenya Tobacco Farmers Association. They said the law is "harsh" as it was drafted by the civil society. But one of the institutions involved in drafting the 2007 Act said this was the latest attempt by the industry to stop full implementation of the Act.

    The International Institute for Legislative Affairs said the industry has always interfered with implementation of the Act. "There is a lot of unnecessary meddling by cigarette manufacturers," said executive director Vincent Kimosop.

    Source: AllAfrica, 21 November 2011
    Link: http://bit.ly/uZfGz7