Marlboro steps into new cigarette segment

Seven years after stepping into India with variants in the king-size or 84-mm segment, Marlboro, manufactured and marketed by Godfrey Philips (GPI), has forayed into the larger regular-filter market.

GPI has just launched a 69-mm brand called Marlboro Gold Advance Compact in Mumbai and Pune for Rs 3.50 a stick. A pack of 10 has been priced at Rs 35, says a company spokesperson.

GPI, he says, will assess expansion plans of the brand in the months to come.

Distributors say a pan-India launch is not way off. Currently, GPI is focusing on pushing the product at the trade level in Mumbai and Pune. A high-octane promotional campaign involving the trade will be unleashed in the next few days, say distributors.

Rival ITC, leader in the overall cigarette market including regular-filter, is also launching a new product, called Players Gold Leaf, for Rs 3 a stick. A pack of 10, therefore, costs Rs 30. "Players is a brand owned by ITC," said a company spokesperson. "We are launching Players Gold Leaf in Mumbai."

The Players launch will happen in the next two days, say persons in the know, and is in response to Marlboro's regular-filter foray.

ITC, according to industry sources, has launched cigarettes under the Players brand from time to time. The current one is intended to take the fizz out of GPI's high-octane launch of a regular-filter brand under Marlboro. The regular-filter segment constitutes 85 per cent of the 100-billion-stick cigarette market in India. The king-size segment makes up 8.5 per cent, while others constitute the balance. ITC is the leader in both regular-filter and king-size, with a cumulative share of a little over 70 per cent. Its key brands include Gold Flake Regular Filter and Wills Flake in the regular segment, while Gold Flake Kings and Classic are key brands in king-size.

What differentiates regular from king-size, besides the length, is the price point. Regular-filter products are priced anywhere between Rs 1.50 to Rs 3.50, while king-size is priced between Rs 4 and Rs 6, respectively.