Guerrilla marketing swedish snus. Not cool.

[Marv]

STORM- First off, I really like your youtube videos and congrats on your quitting the fags! As has been stated before, I wouldn't stress too much about Northerner. I actually have used them to buy snus and their service was good. I kinda like their videos as well. Just remember, you are the original and those in the know, know- if ya know what I mean? Despite their biting your stuff, I think that the promotion of snus no matter where it comes from is a good thing as it is the safest form of tobacco out there. Anyway, keep the youtube vids coming, I am a fan! Hows the weather in Montana? We still have Winter in Eastern Oregon. Al Gore should be sued for the global warming fraud!

[Dead Rabbit]

"My older brother and I were going to produce snus with the same methods and standards as the Swedes use but our wives hate each other and have started a little bit of a family fight."

Dude...that sucks!

I read somewhere else that you come from a Tobacco family. Your the Jefferson of snuson.com! (Ignore all negative and potentially divisive connotations with Jefferson)

I'm as out of line as humanly possible right now....but demand your wives stop that b.s.

They are blood now!!!!!!!

To think there was once a time when a southern tobacco gentleman was called "Mr. so and so" by his own wife.

Talk about the death of the patriarchal plantation family

I'm just kidding about this southern gentleman crap by the way...and completely respect your point of view.

[STORM6490MT]

Mr. Rabbit,

Thanks for your comment. I appreciate your concern for swedish snus. We all love the stuff and enjoy it on a regular basis. My videos were to show the progress of my project to quit smoking. I wanted to see if it was possible, not to promote snus usage. I even made a video that said stop smoking with snus not start snusing.
Before ordering my first can of snus I researched all the vendors online and read hundreds of forums on people's experiences with the different vendors. After doing the research, I decided to go with BS.
They copied my video tags becaus of the success of the videos and used my personal experience to sell snus. I guess I could be flattered that someone copied me. I made a video telling them to eat it. They bribed me. Then I refused.

Recently I was made aware of their agents posting bullshit about the competition. That makes northerner even more f***ed up. I would never do business with a company like that and don't need the money. My videos were for the people and not the corporations. I want others to stop smoking cigarettes and improve their lives. In my life, I have found that if you enjoy something, don't make it your business. Being a rep for snus would not be in my best interest and would never pay me what my personal time and freedom is worth.

Anyway, I will keep making my videos and expressing my opinions with no regulation, venue or objective. It will just be me and my thoughts and opinions. Word of mouth is priceless and can not be bought out.

I believe that snus will become more popular via the internet. People will look for an alternative to quitting smoking or american chew and will find our beloved snuson forum or my videos. Consumers want personal experiences, not videos that link you to businesses or highly produced corporate videos.

My older brother and I were going to produce snus with the same methods and standards as the Swedes use but our wives hate each other and have started a little bit of a family fight. So, we will have to hold off on that Idea for a few years in order for our family to calm down and get over the bitching. In the mean time, I want to work with swedish match to import snus to Montana when a demand becomes available. This will probably be next winter since a lot of the people I ski and snowboard with on this mountain have switched from chew or smokes to snus. I think starting it out in a local market will prove to the industry that there is a demand. Once others see and try snus from their friends, they gratefully switch over and become very loyal customers.

BuySnus, as far as I know is owned by a young couple who works very hard at distributing the freshest and most affordable snus online. They don't utilize strong arm tactics and let the product and service sell itself. That is the kind of business that I like to support and will remain loyal to.

The Scandinavians are proud of their Snus and it's unique history. They will continue to produce it with the same care and regulations even if America decided to hop on the bandwagon and produces garbage like Marlboro and Camel. Don't worry, we will still be able to buy it or in worst case smuggle it.

Anyway, hope you have a great week and understand where I'm coming from.

Peace!

Nick

[Dead Rabbit]

Storm,

While I see your point of view, I think you’re overreacting and, perhaps, dropping the ball on an opportunity. You should have taken them up on their offer. Lets forget the fact that the relationship could of slowly become very lucrative. I don’t think that its too much of a reach that, with a little savy on your end and you could have become the spokesman for snus and the head of north American marketing if you played your cards right.

Ultimately, Snus has the opportunity to both improve the quality of many lives and arguably save Americans. Let’s not fool ourselves. This will only happen via infiltration of the tobacco market share by the way of corporate advertising. You could have been the pillar that keeps this marketing ethical and the product real. Now some jack ass will end up taking your place. Snus will one day invade America. But how and why? Will it be candy flavored snus advertisements in Maxim magazine that targets kids? Will the importance of natural ingredients and the comparatively lack of cancer causing agents fall to the wayside for a traditional American product? Do we already see this happening?

I honestly believe the Swedes do not fully understand their potential in America. I also feel American tobacco will go about it all wrong as well.

But you get it!

edit: I tend to get a little dramatic when I drink

[darkwing]

Nick, your youtube spots convinced me to go for the snus when I was wondering if snus was worth a try. Thanks. As for guerilla marketing, well, be flattered!

[STORM6490MT]

You're right bro! Stress is no good. I just hate it when people step into my territory.

Good to hear that I helped you quit smoking. You made my day!

Best of luck to you.

Nick

[Xobeloot]

You were the reason I switched from cigs to snus.

My question to you is whether they are stealing YOUR videos, or are they just using "quit smoking with swedish snus" as their meta tags so they their stuff comes up along with links to your youtube vids?

Edit: I just searched google with "quit smoking with snus", and although there are a ton of other links that come up, your video is still the #1 result.

I wouldnt stress it bro. You have personally brought many of us into the snus world. Ofcourse others will try to cash in on the # of hits your videos get, but all-in-all it helps no matter how people find snus. Whether it be your video (the #1 returned search result) or someone tryin to make a buck off of the same thing.

You are the original video blogger on this. Stand proud! You have potentially saved my life and many others

Edit #2: In the same search, I did not find any links to videos promoting sales site.

[STORM6490MT]

As I remember copying is one of the Golden Rules in Levinson's Guerilla Marketing tactics.

If this is ok? hmmmm...

Exactly. In advertising, you get the best results by copying something that works. It's similar in music. Thats why all the new pop music sounds the same.

You see this with corporation vs corporation all the time but rarely do you see corporation vs private.

It's just a poor marketing decision that intended to direct potential customers to their business by leaching off of an private persons personal experience without consent. In the long run it will create distrust towards the company. I'm sure they weren't expecting that result. They just need to hire a philosopher or something to teach them ethics.

Peace!

[Mazur]

As I remember copying is one of the Golden Rules in Levinson's Guerilla Marketing tactics.

If this is ok? hmmmm...

[STORM6490MT]

I could be over-reacting to a video placed on youtube. You decide.

I was intoduced to snus by my older brother when I told him about my lungs, the blood and the snow. I decided to document the progress of me quitting smoking buy using swedish snus. My videos are updated every once in a while and I consider myself to be completely cigarette free. All the questions asked by other youtube users are answered and I don't get paid for what I am doing. I just want others to get off the smokes.

Recently, one of the largest online snus distributors has made a video that specifically targeted my videos due to their success. They used similar key words and titles in order to get viewers to click on their video that advertises their web page.

In America we call this Guerrilla marketing. I always consider the integrity of a corporation that uses this type of advertising. As a consumer, I would feel a bit angry if I clicked on a video that said "Stop smoking with Swedish Snus" and all that popped up was a corporate video explaining snus and who to buy it from.

If you are going to make a stop smoking with snus video. Then do it! Show the people that you can quit smoking. Use real people. Don't play with the people who are concerned with their health.

I was offered compensation in the form of cash or product and denied the offer because of the terrible display of plagiarism that happened. I'm not using snus to make money or get free stuff. I'm using it to save my lungs and be healthy. You don't copy someone and then expect them to roll over for you when you offer them petty compensation.

Americans hate corporations like this. We have too many of them already. This type of advertising does not properly represent Swedish products and they should be ashamed of their terrible marketing decisions.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Nicholas Knutson
Whitefish Montana
STORM6490MT