Marlboro Man case study

1. Introduction
- Marlboro is one of the most popular brands in the tobacco industry. The name was taken
from a street in London where the factory is located. The story behind the success of this
brand that once called for ladies and went viral after the marketing revolution taken place
will now be revealed.
- Marlboro is the worlds best-selling cigarette brand (300 bill. units sold in 180 countries)
- The worlds most profitable non-durable consumer good flagship brand of Philip Morris, the
worlds largest cigarette manufacturer.
- 18th on Most Valuable Brand in the World (Inter-brand ranking 2011, net value: 20bill. $)
most recognized and appealing brand image of the 20th century: Marlboro Man and
Marlboro Country Marlboro Man symbol of the true American spirit and American way of
life marketing tool with unprecedented success.
2. Brand history
- The brand was established in 1924 by Phillip Morris and Co. (now Altria). Marlboro built its
image as feminine brand and apparently because its safer due to filter and light cigarette.
- Mild as May was first designed as a white and solid box that appealing to women.
- Then the brand faced trouble but managed to rejuvenate itself with a clever advertising
gimmick. The ivory tip of the filter was changed to red in order to hide the lipstick stains.
- However during the World War II, the brand again faltered and had to be taken off the
market. There was a lot competition going on in this period. Some of the brands were the
market-driven such as Camel, Lucky Strike or Chesterfields.

3. New marketing strategy The revolution

- After the rise of popular brands in tobacco industry, cigarettes were highly consumed during
the war. It was considered as glamorous and beneficial at the time. The slogans from Camel
and Lucky Strike gained a lot attractions such as For Digestions sake smoke Camels or
Lucky Strike A Light Smoke, which created a big shift in culture in America. Phillip Morris
saw its chance to step in the market in the 1950s and Marlboro was reintroduced with a
new face.
- Then Phillip Morriss president and chief executive at the time Joseph Cullman took this
challenge to Leo Burnett Company of Chicago with the belief of the West have a better
understanding about cigarette and know what they want in a cigarette.
- There were a few studies at the time indicated that smoking links to lung cancer and raised
new concern. After the failure of changing the new filter, which was claimed to be only for
women, Phillip Morris decided to target a new type of consumer: men who fear lung cancer.
- In 1955, the campaign Tattooed Man came out and created the sex-change revolution for
Marlboro.
- The TV commercials was everywhere to be seen and also printed pages with slogan You get
a lot to like filter, flavor, slip-tip box. The image of smokers that appeared as masculine, a
relaxed outdoor, a navy officer or a cattle rancher with tattoo on their wrist.
- Full-pages advertisements were printed in black and white large blocks and capital letters on
it. Especially the brand name Marlboro printed bold and large at the top or bottom of the
page. The slogans such as "New Flip-Top Box. Sturdy to keep cigarettes from crushing. No
tobacco in your pocket. Up-to-date. Popular filter price." In a voice that was friendly,
unpretentious and honest the Marlboro men gained the trust of millions.
- Those details reminded the audience the man who worked with his hands a lot, a bit of
romantic in him. The new packaging successfully delivered the message to the masculine
smokers and assured them the quality remained the same even the filter was changed.
Right after that, Marlboro became the top selling cigarette, eight months after the new
advertising campaign opened, sales had increase dramatically at 5,000% (Esquire 6/60)
- The Tattooed Man campaigned had opened the new era of working men representatives.
After this campaign, in 1 year, a lot of different Marlboro icons came out but the cowboy
became the most popular.
- The key factors that have made Marlboro identified as a keen brand and still popular until
today were that the repetition, clear message, inspiring imaginary. It is believed that
frequent repetition is necessary because it enhanced the message that the company wanted
to deliver and gradually and deeply stayed in peoples mind. Therefore it affects the buying
behavior even if the content of the message is forgotten.
- Leo Burnett Company built and reemphasized the image every time the Marlboro Man was
seen.
- The Marlboro cowboy when it was first introduced, it was not the silent image but became a
story teller. The ads appeared on Life magazine in 1957 on 3 main pages, telling its own
stories. There were many different pictures describes actions of middle-aged cowboy, still
donning the tattooed hand but wearing western boots, hat and a business suit. The
Marlboro Man takes the readers to a tour on his country life, introducing himself a rancher,
ride his own ranch from one end of it to the other every day. He is the leader in there and
he has the good feeling of being his own boss.
- And from this moment, the readers beginning to feel jealous, they want to be the boss, they
want to experience that country life as the Marlboro man. And Marlboro Man redirect to
conversation to a familiar topic: he likes to smoke, too (like you).
- The connection between the West, being one's own boss and smoking Marlboros is made
and then supported by the reader's new friend, the Marlboro Man, and his promise of a
quality that appeals to every man,
- By spelling out the image in this first introduction, and by repeating the educational
information through the years, the Marlboro Man would never again have to explicitly ask
the question, "You know what they say about Marlboro?" A narrowing process followed
over the next forty years where this cowboy was recognized in a slew of campaigns.
- He taught the consumer about filters, promoted the flip-top box, enticed women to try "the
cigarette made for men that women like", explained that long white ashes are a sign of good
tobacco, and invited us to relax. Eventually he could be silent and his reputation and
familiarity would reckon us without words to come with him to a place we would come to
know well, Marlboro Country.
- The packaging was designed by Frank Gianininoto in 1954 with bright colors such as red,
white and black. The survey carried out at the time showed that the consumers were
attracted by bright colors.
- The public embraced the red box as a symbol of membership to the club that recognized the
Marlboro Man as their spokes-person.