Abdullah Asif Khan

Ali Abdullah Bajwa

Maaz Aslam Khan

Muhammad Awais Ibrahim

Muhammad Hassan Fiza

Taalia Khan

Zaid Rehman

Ms. Mahjabeen Rafay

Advertising

BBA-III, Section: A

October 17th, 2010

Contents
Mini Focus Group (4-5 people)...................................................................................................................3
Questionnaire Results..................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................16
Appendix...................................................................................................................................................18
 Bullseye Advertising

The Outcomes of the Strategic Research Objective

Mini Focus Group (4-5 people)

L & M Cigarettes

1. How do you spend your free time?

Most of them said that they spend their free time smoking and watching television.
However a few of them said that they liked playing football and painting in their leisure
time.

2. When do you smoke the most?

Most of them said that smoking soothes them and their soul therefore, when they are
lonely or depressed they find cigarettes to be their best friends. However, a few said that
they do smoking because of the peer pressure or just because they like doing it when
there is nothing else to do.

3. Do you prefer light or pure tobacco cigarettes?

Most of them said that the best and most favorable cigarette for them is a mixture of both
tobacco and flavored cigarette but a few of them also said that they liked only pure
tobacco cigarettes.

4. How frequently do you use flavored cigarettes?

 Half of the focus group members said that they use the flavored cigarettes really when
their favorite cigarette brands were not available while a few said that the buy only
flavored cigarettes and as frequently as one pack in a day.

5. How do you feel about Pine, Dunhill lights, B & H lights as an alternative of L&M?

Most of them said that the most preferable brand for them is only Dunhill lights and they
do not want any other alternative for it. However, a few of them said that all of them are
good alternatives of each other and for L & M also.

6. Who influences your purchase?

Almost all of them said that their friends influence their purchase the most.

7. When buying cigarettes, what attributes do you consider most important? Why?

Most of them said that the quality and the tobacco content was the most important for
them while purchasing cigarettes. However, a few of them also said that the style and the
packaging are very important for them.

8. Do you face any hindrance while purchasing your favorite brand of cigarettes?

Almost everyone said that in big cities like Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad; they face no
hindrances but if they go into other parts of Pakistan then yes, it is a major problem for
them to find their favorite brand.

9. What comes to your mind when you hear the word “Flavored Cigarettes”?

Many of them said that words like; sheesha, mint, addiction, mild and girly comes to their
mind however, a few of them also said that it makes them think about chewing gums.

10. Which recent ad of Cigarettes comes to your mind?

Almost all of them said that no recent ad comes to their minds neither any billboard ad
nor any other ad.

11. What exactly do you remember about this ad?

 As none of them recalled any ad, therefore no particular answer was given.

12. If L&M was human, would you like it to be male or female?

Most of the group member said that they would like it to be a female; however, a few of
them said that it can be a male too.

13. What kind of personality do you think it would have?

Most of them said that they imagine it to be classy and stylish also, quite sophisticated.
However, a few of them said that the personality can be very much like that of teenagers.

14. What do you like and dislike about flavored cigarettes?

Most of them said that they liked the aroma and the mild soothing effect of flavored
cigarettes; however, a few said that they dislike it because at times it doesn’t seem that
they are actually smoking cigarettes.

15. Are you satisfied with the price of L&M cigarettes?

Most of them said that the price is just ok; however, a few of them said that the price is
very cheap which makes them think that it is a cheap and low quality brand.

16. Is L&M always available at your nearest store?

Most of them said that it is available at paan shops easily. However, a few of them said
that they cannot easily find it on big stores like Hyperstar etc.

17. Do you think there’s any room for improvement when it comes to packaging of L&M
cigarettes?

Almost all of them said that there is a need of a lot of improvement in its packaging. The
packaging should be made more classy and stylish. Moreover, a few of them also said
that a different or a unique edge should be created for this particular brand.
 Questionnaire
The sample questionnaire has been attached at the end of the report in the appendix section.

Questionnaire Results

How often do you smoke

occasionally twice a day
15% 10%
When
asked
how
often
more than three times a day
75% people
smoke

majority of the individuals said that they smoke more than three times a day. While 10% of them said that
they smoke twice a day.
 Favorite brand

B&H Lights
10%
Dunhill
10%
Others
40%

Marlboro
40%

40% of the respondents said that they like Marlboro, 10% said that they like Dunhill and B&H lights. No
one knew about L&M brand

Characteristic

Price
30%

Tobbaco Content
60%

Flavors
10%

When asked what characteristics they look for in the cigarette 60% of them said that look for the tobacco
content of the brand. 30% said that they go for the price while the rest said that they go for the flavor of
the cigarette brand.
 Price range

Above 100
15% 30-50
25%

50-75
15%
75-100
45%

45% of the correspondents were willing to give RS 75 to 100 for a good and tasty pack of the cigarette
while only 155 wanted to spend more than RS 100. More over 15% of the people wanted to spend
between RS 50 to 75 for the pack of cigarettes.

Packaging
Packaging

To some extent
6

No 1

Yes

13
When asked do you really go for the packing of the cigarette brand majority of them said that yes they
actually look for the “cool” packaging. One of the shop owner said that the sales of “Gold leaf” cigarettes
has declined due to the images of diseased persons on the packaging.

Point of Purchase

other Super Markets

15% 15%

Tobbaco shop
30%
Pan shops
40%

Most of the lower class of Lahore which is called “Mazdoor Tabqa” usually buys cigarettes from the
khokhas or the pan shops as they are easily available near their work places. 30% of the people buy them
at the tobacco shops and according to them they do so because they get fresh cigarette packs from such
shops.
 Endorsing Mode
Proliferation
10%

Billboards
10%
television
40%

Brochuers
35%

Newspaper
5%

Many of the correspondents wanted to have their brand endorsed on the TV and via brochures and some
people also mentioned other ways of endorsement of their brand. But due to the prohibition of cigarette
ads via any media we were unable to make any more research regarding this factor.

Differentiation
Differentiation
9

Yes
No
Maybe
 Consumption
None
10% Men
20%

Teenagers
40%
Women
30%

Shockingly our research showed that in Pakistan where women face more restrictions than men are more
into smoking than the men. 30% of the women smoke while the men are only 20%. A large share is taken
by the teenagers i.e. 40% because most of them think it is cool to smoke and it show or represent the
status symbol for them.

Substitute
12

10

8
Substitute
6

0
Yes
No
To some extent
Most of the correspondents were happy with the brand they use and are not willing to switch their
cigarette brands in any case.

Preferable Brand
L&M
10%

Pine
35%

Dunhill Lights
35%

B&H Lights
20%

35% of the people preferred pine and Dunhill lights. While 20% went for B&H lights. Only 10% opted
L&M brand because most of them had never heard of such brand.
 Endorsing Celebrity
Endorsing celebrity

16

Yes 1
No
To some extent

When asked 80% of the individual said that they want to some celebrity to endorse their brand of
cigarettes. They wanted some action hero like James Bond or Tom Cruise to endorse their brand.

Class
Lower Class
10%
Lower Middle class
5%

Upper class
40%

Middle class
45%
 Banning ads on T.V
Banning ads on T.V

12

1
Yes No Maybe

60% of the public wants to have ban on the TV commercial of the cigarettes because they think this will
promote the smoking among the new generation specially the teenagers because their young minds can
easily grasp the ideas in this very little age.

Age Group

35 above
10%

26-35
15%

18-25
75%
As described earlier most of the share in the cigarette market is held by the teenagers because most of
them think it is cool to smoke and it show or represent the status symbol for them.

Gender

Female
15%

Male
85%

85% of our correspondents were mail and 15% were females.

Conclusion

After conducting the research on L &M cigarettes and through surveys and questionnaires, we have
concluded that the major reasons for the lack of popularity of L & M in Pakistan are:

 Selection of wrong target market

The target market for a cigarette brand like L & M was wrongly selected. It was thought that the
target market it serves globally will be just the same in Pakistan too. In other parts of the world,
this rand is preferred more by women then by men due to its mild taste and aroma but in Pakistan
it was launched targeting youth as a prime target market.
 Female association to cigarettes
Pakistan is a country where targeting women for a brand of cigarettes and showing them smoking
is considered offensive by the society. Therefore, directly targeting the youth and that too, with
females in it was thought to be quite offensive and negative for the people.
 Competitive Market
The tobacco industry of Pakistan is already very stuffed and competitive, therefore, launching the
cigarette independently and making it run effectively needed a lot of strong push and
advertisement for the intermediaries and the distributors. Selling a cigarette brand is quite a task
because the marketers cannot directly reach the end users; therefore, a strong relationship
between marketers and the distributors has to be established so that the distributors can work
effectively for the advertising of cigarettes.

Relaunching of L & M in Pakistan

In order to relaunch L & M and make it more acceptable for the target market, following points should be
taken as most important by the advertisers:

 Creative ways of Advertising

Through survey we got to know that 60% of the people are happy that the tobacco ads are not
played on television now and their banning has saved their children from getting attracted
towards cigarettes in the long run. But for those people who smoke and who want to know about
the new entries in cigarette industry, more creative ways of advertising should be adopted rather
than just sitting idle and thinking that only television was an important medium.
T-shirts, lighters, pens and notebooks can be made with the logo of L & M and distributed
amongst people. Furthermore, kiosks at special places can be used effectively. And most
 importantly, the use of LCD’s can be done, they can be put up in special tobacco shops and visual
ads can be played on them.
 Building relations with the intermediaries
As the cigarette advertisers cannot directly reach and touch the end users themselves, therefore,
the advertisers should take the help of intermediaries and do promotional activities within the
intermediaries like giving special gifts to the distributors etc. Through this, the distributors get
pleased and they advertise and help in selling the products effectively. Furthermore, the
advertisers can also give and make deals regarding the profits of the product with the distributors
and promise them to give them a particular share of profit from the selling of the product. In this
way, the distributors and resellers get more serious and work effectively for the advertising of the
product.

 Selection of right target market

The selection is of prime importance in Pakistan as the people get offended if thy see females
endorsing cigarettes etc. Therefore, all the ads should be made in accordance with the feelings
and the mindset of the people to whom the brand is particularly targeting. Generally, youth and
women are no thought to be a good target market for cigarettes in Pakistan. Hence men can be
segmented on the basis of age groups and targeted accordingly.
 Special areas for Advertising
In Pakistan, Northern areas and other faraway places are not banned for advertising cigarettes,
may it be done through and medium. Furthermore, the sales of L & M in Northern areas is quite
good. Therefore, advertisers should focus more on such areas and target the people from these
areas more specifically. The advertisers should make television ads for them so that they can be
run on the local cable channels in those areas.
 Buying special places of shops to put the product
It is one of the very effective ways because through this, the attention of buyers is easily got. The
advertisers can pay a little more amount to the distributors and resellers and ask them to place the
product in such spots and shelves where all the buyers can easily see the product at once and ask
about it. In this way, many people who are looking at the product for the first time get attentive
towards it and want to try it too.
 Appendix

Sample Questionnaire

Focus group videos