- Menthol is one of the most popular cigarette sectors, growing from 2.9% to 3.6% market share in the last four years according to Rothmans which has just added a menthol variant to its premium Marlboro brand. In 10s and 20s, the larger pack of Marlboro Menthol Lights retails at £4.22. The company is backing the recent launch with a £3m campaign that includes direct mailing to around 100,000 target smokers. Rothmans claims Marlboro is the only brand to have grown in the premium sector in the last year, rising from 3.7% share in 1999 to 5.1% in 2000. - Capitalising on the growth of roll your own cigarettes, Imperial Tobacco has created a new make your own' category with the launch of Concept, a complete package that enables smokers to produce 20 quality cigarettes for £2.50. It consists of a new tobacco, Gold Leaf Concept, which is less moist than other handrolling products and therefore more suited to tubing machines. Each carton contains two 7g cubes of tobacco, sufficient for 20 cigarettes, at an rsp of £2.50. Concept tubes are designed to make a standard UK king size cigarette with a filter. Imperial says they need less tobacco than existing tubes which have a wider circumference, reducing the production cost per cigarette. Rsp is 99p for a box of 100. A Concept tubing machine, claimed to be the only UK specification king size machine on the market, completes the package. Rsp is £1.99. In blue and gold livery the complete kit has a launch price of £4.99. Sales director Geoffrey Couchman says: "Make your own is the next big segment in the tobacco market, as smokers are increasingly looking for value for money from their tobacco products. It also opens up a new profit opportunity for retailers. If bought at the best terms, retailers can make more profit from Concept than from king size cigarettes, around 29p compared to 25p." - With sales of miniature cigars growing, Imperial has brought out Small Classic Filter, claimed to be the first cigar with a built-in filter. The company says it is a hybrid product that's more like a cigarette than other cigars and is designed to attract more cigarette smokers. "Research shows there's a real consumer need for the product," says trade marketing controller Lisa Davies-Evans. The same size as a king size cigarette, with a mild flavour, it retails at £2.78 for 10 individually wrapped cigars. Its launch is being supported by a nationwide advertising and direct marketing campaign. - To help retailers develop sales, Gallaher has created a new sales and marketing team focusing on the the supermarket, convenience, leisure and distributive channels. "We've done this because we recognise the opportunities to develop sales are not the same in all trade channels," says sales director Paul Williams. It has also developed, and is working on, a number of initiatives to assist customers. These include providing advice on range management and merchandising based on extensive insights into shopper behaviour; the provision of flexible merchandising units; and the development of tobacco rooms in cash & carry depots to make shopping easier for independent retailers. - Londis has introduced regional merchandising of tobacco brands. Working with Imperial Tobacco and management consultants Glendinning, the group has issued its retailers with a booklet of planograms that match consumer demand in different areas of the country. Category merchandising controller Kelvin Ling says: "We've segmented the country into five areas and by using these planograms, retailers can ensure they have the right products with the appropriate facings for consumers in their area. According to Ling, the main change is merchandising by product type, rather than by manufacturer. "Key purchasing motivations are price, brand and tar level," he says. {{FOCUS SPECIALS }}

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