After being brought back from the New World it was cultivated first in Portugal during the 16th century, then tobacco gradually become a product of mass consumption all around the world, passing from the status of a medicinal plant at the beginning to a luxury product and eventually it came to represent something fashionable that even the poorest can afford. However this cool image that occurred during the first part of the second half of the 20th century began with the American GI's smoking cigarettes and then spread by cine stars smoking, evolved into a new image much less attractive.
The cigarette gradually stopped being something cool in order to become something that kills 500000 people a year only in Europe. It multiplies the risk of lung cancer by 10, dwindles the life expectancy by 8 to 10 years for those who smoke more than half of packet a day, and so on. As a matter of fact, tobacco companies have had to change their marketing strategies to face this new vision of tobacco among the public. During the second half of the 20th century, the public had become more and more aware of the dangers linked to tobacco. The increasing number of studies concerning tobacco and its effects on human organs played a great role in this awareness.
[...] The increasing number of studies concerning tobacco and its effects on human organs played a great role in this awareness. The very first relevant study about tobacco was made in 1952 by doctors DOLL and HILL. They tried to find a link between cancer and tobacco smoking of the 600 patients suffering from cancer had already smoked in the past whereas only 80% of the other sample of patients (who did not suffer from cancer) had already smoked. This first study and its results opened the path to many other research programs concerning the effects of tobacco on the human organism. [...]
[...] The battle between the government and tobacco producers had really started a year ago when a bill was proposed in parliament to reinforce non- smokers' rights. Since then, a war of influence took place in which Altadis supported UMIH (Union des Métiers et des Industries de l'hôtellerie). One of this Union's meetings even took place in Altadis' premises! Other companies such as BAT are well known for their aggressive methods of lobbying: golf week-ends, Roland Garros or Stade de France tickets, etc Necessity to evolve Developing in other countries - The example of Altadis Altadis has always tried to pursue a clear goal: the internationalization of its brands and of its markets plays a central role in its strategy especially when the French market has to face different kinds of problems such as the huge increase in the prices. [...]
[...] Some improvements are undeniable: the 35mg Gauloise of 1977 was unhealthier than the 12mg Gauloise of 1997. But consumers' behaviors have unfortunately changed: the well-known phenomenon of "compensation" encourages smokers to inhale more when there is less tar in the cigarette. Tobacco companies also tried to market so-called revolutionary products: In the 1990's Philip Morris produced Next, a cigarette without nicotine, to fight against consumers' addiction; In 1997 RJR marketed Eclipse, a cigarette which delivered nine times less smoke than usual cigarettes, to fight against second-hand smoking. But both of them were failures. [...]
[...] It was all the more harsh since F1 was a tobacco event producers could cash in on: 40 billion TV viewers each year, and a advertising equivalent to 9.000 commercials of 30 seconds each. Deter people from smoking In addition to the legislation mentioned above, a newer one appeared in the late 90's, in the beginning of the 21st century. Deterrent messages were introduced on the package itself such as “Tobacco kills”. These warnings which are, in a way, telling the truth aim at making people become aware of what they are doing. [...]
[...] This group is present in France with Altadis Distribution and in Italy with the recent acquisition of Etinera in 2004. It is also present in Spain with its subsidiary Logista: in 2002, Logista bought the Burgal group which is specialized in the distribution of pharmaceutical products. This is how the pharmaceutical sector strongly takes part in the growth of Altadis today. Conclusion Nowadays, everyone is concerned about the dangers of tobacco, whether one is a smoker or not. To face this new mentality, cigarette producers decided to change their marketing strategies on the one hand, and their public image on the other hand. [...]
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