Rothmans (UK) Marketing Services
YOUNG ADULT SMOKERS SMOKING BEHAVIOUR AND
LIFESTYLES 1994-97 (OCTOBER 1998)
In the first year of tracking, Royals 20s recorded
promoted brand awareness among young adult smokers of 71 per cent.
It is possible that some awareness may be the result of respondents
confusing the 20s pack with the more familiar 24s pack. However,
even taking this into account, this compares favourably with Sovereign
which achieved 54 per cent awareness in the first year after launch.
In line with their relative under-use of LTKS
and ultra low tar brands, these brands are at the bottom of the
prompted awareness list among young adult smokers, although the
figures are still generally higher than for the smoking population
as a whole. This reinforces the fact that young adult smokers
are actively choosing not to smoke brands from these sectors,
even though they know about them. The marketing issue is therefore
not one of improving awareness, but of increasing the appeal of
these brands to young adult smokers.
ADVERTISING AWARENESS
As with brand awareness, young adult smokers
are more widely aware of cigarette advertising than smokers in
general. The reasons for this are likely to be two-fold:
As discussed above, media consumption
is generally higher for younger adults than for older adults.
Young adult smokers are therefore likely to have been exposed
to more advertising as a natural result of their higher media
consumption.
Many of the heaviest cigarette advertisers
(for example Marlboro, B&H, Silk Cut) place advertising in
male style press publications which have a younger readership
profile. This allows tighter targeting of both the audience and
the message. A key recent example of this is the Embassy Lights
executions in the male style press which are much harder hitting
than the more generic Embassy work seen in more broadcast arenas.
The ranking of brands by spontaneous advertising
awareness is broadly similar between all smokers and young adult
smokers. The Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut families are clear
leaders, followed by Marlboro, and these are the only three brands
among young adult smokers to achieve more than 10 per cent spontaneous
advertising awareness. Many others achieve only a base level of
less than 5 per cent among young adult smokers.
Marlboro is the only family to record a steady
increase in the level of spontaneous advertising awareness and
this is a testament to the effectiveness of a constant presence
and theme over recent years, as well as relevance to its target
market.
The other notable increase is for L&B, for
which spontaneous advertising awareness increased from 1 per cent
in 1996 to 6 per cent in 1997. Again, this will be the result
of the heavy ATL support the brand has received, particularly
since the introduction of the current image building campaign.
* * *
One of the key drivers of young adult smokers
which has not changed is the (claimed) single minded pursuit of
sexual relations. The places they go and the things they do are
inextricably linked to this aim. This has particular relevance
to the brands they adopt.
BRANDS
Like all young adults, young adult smokers are
very brand aware. There is a general acceptance that the right
brands confer status upon the owner, but there is also the ever
present fear of being seen with the wrong brand. Above all, there
was a rejection of the notion that there is a single right lookthey
are tolerant of a range of looks and styles within a loosely defined
acceptable boundary.
In general, young adult smokers are looking
for big brandsNike, Adidas, Tango, Bud, Marlboro, B&H.
Again it is important to remember that most young adult smokers
are mainstream individuals with quite ordinary tastes. They want
brands for credibilityfor many, to have a quirky brand
is almost as uncomfortable as having no brand because it sets
them apart from the gang rather than making them a part of it.
For many young adult smokers, the choice of
brands (indeed, the choice whether to have a brand at all) depends
upon circumstances:
"Armani shirt for the club . . . M&S
shirt for work".
The full-time branded life is not a reality
for most. This is partly that they cannot afford this approach,
and partly the need to fit into different environmentsan
Armani shirt at work would be just as out of place as an M&S
shirt in a club. It is clear that the underlying desire is to
be individual, but still conform to their peer group norm.
Many of the items that young adult smokers would
place in a time capsule to epitomise the 1990s are reasonably
stablebeer, cigarettes, computer games, music and mobile
communications. It is interesting, however, that cigarettes (including
Marlboro specifically) appear for a different reason in 1998.
This is not just that they epitomise enjoyment, but that they
may well be illegal in the future.
GOALS
The goals of young adult smokers are a combination
of the desire for advancement, and the desire to avoid responsibility.
As might be expected from their black view of the future, the
goals are not the "fly to the moon" variety, but are
realistic and modest. On a positive note, young adult smokers
want increased resources, greater status, self confidence and
a chance to consolidate their views and values into an identity.
More negatively, they want to avoid responsibility, postpone decisions,
stay single and stay out of the rat race.
|