1.

TOBACCO giant Philip Morris has launched a website calling on smokers to unite and flex their political muscle over tough federal government regulations. The online campaign comes as the tobacco industry ramps up opposition to a government plan for cigarettes to be sold in plain packaging from next year. Philip Morriss new website ideservetobeheard.com.au claims smokers are under constant attack from a nanny state determined to raise taxes and ban smoking in public spaces, such as beaches and city malls.

2. Philip Morris says their web-based campaign, My Opinion Counts, was created to encourage smokers to speak out against strict regulation. Philip Morris, which has the third-largest share of the New Zealand tobacco market, says their campaign has given smokers a voice, an online forum where they can lobby for the right to smoke and be left in peace. From Monday the Smoke-free Environments (Controls and Enforcement) Amendment Act 2011 comes into effect meaning shops will have to hide their cigarette displays. The Government is also proposing a series of tax hikes which will mean a pack of cigarettes will cost $20 by 2016. They are also considering plain packaging.

Philip Morris corporate affairs manager Christopher Bishop told Close Up smokers have told the company they want their voices to be heard by the Government and decision makers. "It's the start of a website where adult smokers can go online and join up and learn about the issues they've told us they are concerned about."

Bishop says smokers believe the "balance and regulation has gone too far" and they want to express their concern.
3. Marlboro runs a quiz online by the name Outwit the West. The winners are invited to Marlboro Ranch.

4. Age Verification Cigarette Vending Machines

The key factor for youth smoking prevention is to prevent

minors from buying cigarettes through vending machines.

The tobacco industry, therefore, has been rolling out programs such as placement of campaign stickers and voluntary restrictions on late-night sales through vending machines, with age verification cigarette-vending machines

introduced in 2008.

TIOJ, JTF, and the Japan Vending Machine Manufacturers

Association (JVMA) play a central role in introducing age

verification cigarette-vending machines. The taspo IC

card, issued exclusively for adults, is required to buy cigarettes from these vending machines. Cigarette-vending machines all over the country have been almost replaced with

their age verification counterparts and the number of taspo IC cards issued exceeded 10 million in 2011.

The tobacco industry will continue to distribute taspo

cards, while JT is committed to playing a key role in preventing youth smoking as a leading tobacco company

5. surrogate promotion: Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain's new internet ad

features a tight head shot of his campaign's "chief of staff," Mark Block, telling viewers how great Cain will be for the country and how much confidence he has in Cain. In the ad, Block looks directly at the camera, says, "We've run a campaign like nobody's ever seen." Then, at the 40-second mark in the 56-second political spot, Block unexplicably takes a long, prominent drag from a lit cigarette and then exhales, blowing the smoke directly at the viewer. The ad highlights Cain's connections to the tobacco industry, and Block's position in the campaign belies Cain's connections to David Koch. Until earlier this year, Block was the long-time leader of the Wisconsin arm of the David Koch-funded astroturf group, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), following a scandal that barred him from electoral politics for a time. A number of Cain's other aides have also worked for AFP, and Cain's old work and email addresses used to be with the Koch group. But what's the cigarette connection? The tobacco industry has helped advance some of Americans for Prosperity's agenda in several states. Cain himself has also been a tobacco industry ally. He formerly served as president of the National Restaurant Association -- a long-time ally of the tobacco industry in the past. R.J. Reynolds' Director of Public Policy, Robert Meyne, openly praised him in a speech at a 1994 international restaurant, hotel and gambling convention in Las Vegas. Another RJR memo from 1997 indicates clearly that Cain and RJR agreed hold on pro-smoking policies. Numerous documents are available at the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library describing his relationship with the tobacco industry.

6. Phillip Morris just made a very public move to support tobacco. It has put up a website
called Citizens for Tobacco Rights (http://www.tobaccorights.com/ctr/advocacy/default.aspx) that's looking to drum up a more grassroots level of support for their cause, reports the AP.

The Philip Morris brand hasn't had a great image in the eyes of consumers for the past few decades -- after all, they do sell cigarettes. Its parent conglomerate even rebranded in 2003 to Altria Group to help shake lose of the infamous Philip Morris name. The site is branded with a hefty dose of patriotism. It's smothered in red, white and blue, with an American flag right in the middle of it all. As for the content, there's plenty of information available about tobacco-related public policy issues. Remember, Altria does significant lobbying in Washington (lately to the tune of around $10 million each year). The move serves a few purposes for Philip Morris. The site provides value to its current customers by giving them a one stop shop for tobacco news, bringing Philip Morris closer to its customer. The customers also become more knowledgeable about the subject, and gives them more artillery as ambassadors spreading the movement on the ground. Also, it's another avenue for Philip Morris to stay in the minds of consumers, since most traditional forms of tobacco advertising are banned in the US.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/philip-morris-tobacco-rights-website-20121#ixzz2AsAucLuI

7.

innovative marketing strategy which was adopted by the company was that they constantly worked on their brand building programs and events. Another very famous campaign which Philip Morris launched was the "Boot Up" lottery. In this activity incentive was given to smokers who bought two packets of Marlboro. The incentive was a CD-ROM that contained clip art to design their own cowboy boots. After this promotional campaign 250 winners received their personal custom made pair of boots. According to Billy Abshaw manager media programs at Philip Morris this activity was designed to build equity in the brand and with that create news and excitement. The strategy worked as most of the Marlboro consumers associate it with adventure and excitement (Dipasquale, 2002).