How would you market snus to the US market?

[giancarlo]

You don't think the name snus works? I think that can be the distinguishing characteristic, and help separate it from traditional American smokeless tobacco. It's foreign enough that it can sound cultured as opposed the dip that's associated with rednecks.

Well ONE of the reasons I don't like Snus as a product name is the sound.

1. In the US until someone tells you how to pronounce it most will say snus instead of snoose.

2. Even if they pronounce it right I don't think it has a good name properties.

Here's why...

Think of words that start with SN...

snub
snug
snuggle
snuzzle
snot

Not good.

[giancarlo]

No one knows how to pronounce it. But still I'd stick with it, because that's what it is. If Camel didn't call their's snus, many of us still may not know what it is.

That's true. However, I'm looking at it now from a marketing standpoint.

The reason you found Swedish Snus is through Camel but I can almost guarantee that for every one of us that does a little research there are THOUSANDS that don't.

[lxskllr]

Well ONE of the reasons I don't like Snus as a product name is the sound.

1. In the US until someone tells you how to pronounce it most will say snus instead of snoose.

2. Even if they pronounce it right I don't think it has a good name properties.

Here's why...

Think of words that start with SN...

snub
snug
snuggle
snuzzle
snot

Not good.

Fair enough. I don't know that I agree, but I see your point. I think if a whole new name was created, it would be easier for the government to jump in and ban it(They're marketing new product to HOOK THE KIDS!!!), and while it may not be immediately obvious, the word snus carries a couple hundred years of tradition. That would indicate a strong product, with a rich history, and not just the latest tobacco company fad(though it is in many ways).

[gambino]

They need to get away from the good ol boy market, or modern tobacco will fail. Snus was almost dead in Sweden before they gentrified it, and made a major push to switch from cigarettes. If they limit their market share in America by cantering to rednecks, snus will go the way of plug tobacco(a couple dusty old chunks on the back shelf of a small town general store).

respectfully disagree...the dip market is exploding in america...look at all the new flavors/brands over the last ten yrs.
lotsa smokers are now dippers, and good ole boys aren't going anywhere and will remain a viable customer for yrs to come...alienating and/or confusing them about this product and snus fails in america.
too much of a stigma for white collar folks, the hillbilly image of redman and spitting will never leave.

[lxskllr]

respectfully disagree...the dip market is exploding in america...look at all the new flavors/brands over the last ten yrs.
lotsa smokers are now dippers, and good ole boys aren't going anywhere and will remain a viable customer for yrs to come...alienating and/or confusing them about this product and snus fails in america.
too much of a stigma for white collar folks, the hillbilly image of redman and spitting will never leave.

I've never seen anyone in a upscale establishment use oral tobacco. Limiting your market south of the Mason Dixon isn't a winning strategy imo. I've worked construction for over 20 years, and even with that demographic oral tobacco isn't that big. Bigger than white collar for sure, but still a niche in the whole tobacco market. I've met almost as many cigar smokers as I have chew users. The only reason cigars are profitable is due to the high markups of quality products, and weed smokers on the low end. I met damned few people that smoke drugstore cigars as their primary vice.

[giancarlo]

Fair enough. I don't know that I agree, but I see your point. I think if a whole new name was created, it would be easier for the government to jump in and ban it(They're marketing new product to HOOK THE KIDS!!!), and while it may not be immediately obvious, the word snus carries a couple hundred years of tradition. That would indicate a strong product, with a rich history, and not just the latest tobacco company fad(though it is in many ways).

I like the "couple of hundred years of tradition" angle.

There is more to consider though. Probably too much to post here but I'll write what I can.

1. Marketing of cigarretes in the US has gone through all the "Stages of Sophistication" as marketing genius Eugene Schwartz called it. I'm not sure if the smokeless tobacco market has gone through them too but I'm sure it has.

Here are the 5 stages of sophistication as applied to cigarettes:

1. New market - product brand new

In cigarettes the appeal was satisfaction, taste and enjoyment.

"Chesterfield - They Satisfy!"

2. Second stage - enlarge successful new market claims

So the cigarette manufacturers that came in during the second stage would expand on the appeals used in the first - making comparisons and distinctions that are more elaborate.

"Light up a Lucky, And You Won't Miss The Sweets That Make You Fat!"

3. Third Stage - Mechanisms

As people get tired of hearing all the different appeals the product maker begin to show the MECHANISMS that make their product better.

"Luckies - They're Toasted"

"Pall Mall's Greater Length Filters The Smoke Further!"

4. Fourth Stage - Elaborate on successful 3rd stage appeals

"Nine Out of Ten Doctors Prefer Luckies!"

5. Fifth Stage - Identification

All previous appeals lose their potency and by now governments step in to control advertising.

So, in this stage you create strong visual identifications with QUALITIES that you want associated with the product.

ie - virility and the Marlboro Man

==

So now that I did my mini crash course - What I'd be looking at is where to position the message for Snus.

Unfortunately we live in a fifth stage world with most tobacco products and it seems that Snus is in the 3rd stage. So, it would take a lot of thought to make a marketing campaign work and maybe combine the 3rd and 5th stages.

I'm available if a Swedish manufacturer wants to consult

[giancarlo]

Just as an aside -

Most people don't realize that Marlboro Reds were originally to be positioned as a woman's cigarette.

The reason they were called REDS is that the filter was red and the appeal was that it had a red filter which would hide the lipstick stains.

In the 1940's there was a Marlboro Woman and they tried to position Marlboro as America's Luxury Cigarette with the red filter being called a "Beauty Tip"

It was a cigarette that wouldn't sell and was considered a "sissy smoke... a tea room smoke."

In 1954 Leo Burnett changed that.

He asked his team what was the most masculine figure in America. Someone said "Cowboy" and the rest is history.

[gambino]

I've never seen anyone in a upscale establishment use oral tobacco. Limiting your market south of the Mason Dixon isn't a winning strategy imo. I've worked construction for over 20 years, and even with that demographic oral tobacco isn't that big. Bigger than white collar for sure, but still a niche in the whole tobacco market. I've met almost as many cigar smokers as I have chew users. The only reason cigars are profitable is due to the high markups of quality products, and weed smokers on the low end. I met damned few people that smoke drugstore cigars as their primary vice.

lol the only time i've ever bought a cheap cigar was to gut it and replace the tobacco slop with something a little sweeter!

but i've never lived in dixie. michigan/ny/penn/nevada/and now cali
and dipheads in every place.

[Andy#1]

In the US until someone tells you how to pronounce it most will say snus instead of snoose.

It's not pronounced snoose either.

[RRK]

[
It's not pronounced snoose either.

Doesn't it rhyme with loose?

[tom502]

Is it more like snuze?

[lxskllr]

[
It's not pronounced snoose either.

Doesn't it rhyme with loose?

Not quite. It's a bit different, but I can't quite get a grasp of it. It uses a vowel sound that's kind of uncomfortable for Anglos, or at least me anyway :^D

[chainsnuser]

Yes, it sounds a bit like "snüs", but still different.

I just pronounce it as if it was a German word, which sounds pretty much like snoose.

I could try to replicate that Swedish kind of an Ü umlaut, but for what? If I tell people that I'm using snus, most make a face that looks like they think I'm a freak. Now, imagine I'd even say "snu'üs" instead of "snoose"...

Cheers!

[Snusmun]

I agree that calling it snus was their first mistake. Not because its hard to pronounce or that it sounds funny, but simply because of the fact that it will lead customers down the path of buying swedish snus. This forum is a perfect example, where many have googled their way AWAY from their product, instead of to it.

[chadizzy1]

I wish my damn auto-spell feature on the phone would quit replacing "snus" with "anus". It drives me nuts.