Philip Morris International - brand history. Philip Morris International Russia Company symbol Philip Morris in 1919

BOMB ON A SAUCER Morris and Lona Cohen During the war, Morris and Lona Cohen obtained for the USSR the secret of creating an atomic bomb. The titles of Heroes of Russia were awarded to them posthumously, but with Morris Cohen (aka Peter Kroger, Sanchez, Israel Oltmann, Briggs, Louis...) I succeeded

It’s rare that a company manages to offer its traditional customer something completely new that could radically change their habits. But there are still exceptions. The largest tobacco company Philip Morris managed to introduce a completely new product, which in the future will open a new milestone in the tobacco industry.

We are talking about a smokeless tobacco device - IQOS - a product developed by PMI specialists and presented to Russians last year. The device is based on an innovative tobacco heating system, which does not set it on fire and does not emit smoke, while maintaining the taste, nicotine supply and ritual of smoking conventional cigarettes. The company is confident that this gadget opens a new era in the development of the tobacco industry.

Peter Nixon, project manager for the launch of iQOS on the Russian market, vice president for commercialization of a product with potentially reduced risk, affiliated companies of PMI, told the site about what kind of consumer the device is aimed at and how it will be promoted on the Russian market.

— Tell us about the technology of the device itself. Who started developing it and when?

— First, let's go back almost 20 years ago: it was then that we set ourselves a serious and extremely ambitious task - to create a product with the potential to reduce health risks, a product that would completely change the long-term history of tobacco consumption. Even then, our scientists and developers were studying the causes of diseases caused by smoking, looking for innovative solutions that could lead to a reduction in health risks, conducting scientific research and evaluating prototypes, and analyzing the needs of adult smokers.

We have invested heavily in research and development of products with harm reduction potential. In the last eight years alone, this amount has exceeded $2 billion. During this time, we received more than 1,300 patents for inventions, many of which were subsequently embodied in iQOS technology.

According to experts from different countries, the causes of smoking-related diseases are the chemicals in cigarette smoke that the smoker inhales. During the combustion of a cigarette, thousands of harmful substances are released, many of which are recognized as the most likely causes of smoking-related diseases. That is why our task was to invent a technology that would significantly reduce or completely eliminate the content of such substances.

Despite the fact that the level of smoking in the world is gradually decreasing, expert estimates, including the forecast of the World Health Organization, indicate that in the foreseeable future about 1 billion smokers on the planet will continue to smoke. It is to these people that we want to offer a product that would maximally reproduce the taste, nicotine supply and ritual of smoking conventional cigarettes, but at the same time have the potential to reduce harm to health.

As a result of rigorous scientific work at the Philip Morris International Research and Development Center in Switzerland, our experts have created several types of products with the potential to reduce the risk of smoking-related diseases. And one of them is an electric tobacco heating system (heat-not-burn), which is already presented in a number of countries, including Russia, under the iQOS brand. PMI is currently continuing a series of long-term clinical studies to determine whether the risk of developing smoking-related diseases is reduced in smokers who switch completely from cigarettes to iQOS.

— How does iQOS work?

— The main elements of iQOS are the holder and the pocket charger. The tobacco stick, which we call a HeatStick, is inserted into a holder, inside of which there is a blade, which is a heating element. When turned on, it heats up to a temperature of no more than 350 degrees Celsius. The heating temperature is controlled by precise electronics, which eliminates the burning of tobacco in the stick.

Specially processed tobacco in a stick is heated and a kind of “tobacco vapor” containing nicotine is released. Since the combustion process is excluded when using iQOS, there is no smoke and ash. At the end of use, the tobacco stick remains the same length.

You see that both the principle of operation and the process of using iQOS are different from smoking cigarettes. With regular cigarettes, everything is simple - they can be bought in many stores, and the method of consumption is familiar to every smoker. In the case of iQOS, it is not enough to purchase only sticks: you will need the device itself. Accordingly, the use of iQOS implies a different consumer behavior and consumption ritual. This is a completely new product category that did not exist in the past.

— There is less tobacco in sticks than in a cigarette. It turns out that consumption is less?

- That's not entirely true. iQOS is intended for those adult smokers who do not intend to give up this habit. Therefore, we strived to ensure that the process of using iQOS was familiar and as similar as possible to the ritual of traditional smoking. On average, a person smokes a standard cigarette in 6 minutes, taking approximately 14 puffs. Therefore, despite the fact that the length of a tobacco stick is indeed shorter than the length of a cigarette, it is still enough for about 14 puffs or 6 minutes of use.

— How is iQOS different from cigarettes?

— If we talk about the consumer benefits of products, then they are different for everyone. Some people appreciate its design, some value advanced technology, others like the absence of smoke, ash and less odor than smoking cigarettes.

As I said, we've done a lot of research on the new product—many of which are still ongoing—but the results so far show that we're moving in the right direction. For example, the levels of harmful substances in the iQOS aerosol are on average 90−95% lower than in the smoke of the cigarette used in the study. In addition, the “tobacco vapor” generated by iQOS does not have a negative impact on indoor air quality.

— You were the first to release a product on the Japanese market. Why there?

- For several reasons. Firstly, Japan is an advanced country in terms of technology development; they are very fond of innovation. In addition, the consumer benefits of iQOS align well with the social and cultural customs of the Japanese people. For example, they are very concerned about not causing inconvenience to others, and the fact that iQOS “tobacco vapor”, unlike cigarette smoke, has a less strong odor is important to them.

The price of an iQOS device in Russia is 7 thousand rubles, a pack of 20 sticks is 150 rubles.

After a fairly successful test launch in Japan, we decided to try to offer the product to smokers in one of the European countries. The choice fell on Italy for a number of reasons, including because at that moment e-cigarettes were quite popular among Italians: the share of e-cigarette users was about 3% of the entire adult population of the country, and we saw that smokers in Italy were in need in alternatives to cigarettes. After Italy, we launched iQOS in Switzerland and almost simultaneously in Russia.

— Russia became the fourth country in which iQOS appeared. How do you assess the potential of the Russian market?

— In Russia today there are about 35 million adult smokers, and we are pleased to offer them an alternative to cigarettes. Is the Russian consumer ready for such a new category? I think yes.

As for electronic cigarettes, their market share in Russia is still less than 1%, however, the popularity of the segment is gradually growing, which means that smokers are open to new offers. In addition, iQOS is not inherently an electronic cigarette, representing a completely new product category. Electronic cigarettes do not contain tobacco, evaporating nicotine from a special liquid. While iQOS sticks contain real tobacco, the taste of which is more familiar to the consumer, although the consumption process is different.

— In Russia, iQOS is positioned as a product in the luxury segment. Will the product receive this positioning all over the world?

— iQOS is positioned everywhere as a premium offer. But here its positioning is even higher - super-premium. Firstly, in Moscow, consumers love “premium”, and you can see the high popularity of premium brands for a wide variety of consumer goods. The second reason is the sticks. Unlike other countries where the device is presented with Marlboro sticks, in Russia we use the even more premium Parliament brand.

— Is the Russian consumer ready for a super-premium offer?

- I'm sure so. It is important to remember that iQOS is a completely new product category, so it is important for us to familiarize the consumer with the features of this product and create the right impression about it. And this can only be achieved by focusing on super-premium and exclusivity.

- Do you set yourself the task of changing the “ritual of consumption”?

— Yes, including with the help of our stores. It is there that the consumer receives a unique personal experience of first acquaintance with the product, and we have the opportunity to establish personal contact with the consumer. We are also changing the “ritual”, striving to provide a completely new level of service. We register each buyer in our system and check their age to ensure they are of legal age. We are creating a 360 service: a person can come to our store, get acquainted with the product, try it and purchase it, and subscribe to the delivery of sticks. We also have a customer support team ready to answer consumer questions.

Design of the IQOS brand store in Moscow

— What principles were you guided by when developing the concept of promoting iQOS?

— You know, I was very pleased with the offer to head the department in the company that is involved in the launch and commercialization of iQOS in Russia. After all, introducing a new category to the market is a unique opportunity to start from scratch and completely rethink the approach to product positioning. When developing the promotion concept, we studied the experience of other companies, such as Nespresso, Apple, BMW. We were guided by the level of service accepted at the Ritz-Carlton.

In the design of the stores, I tried to use much of what I saw myself and what made the strongest impression on me. If we talk about the design of, for example, the store in the Atrium, it fully reflects the very essence of the iQOS philosophy: a combination of natural elements with high technology. The interior uses a lot of natural materials, greenery, wood, and, at the same time, there are large screens and touch panels. This is iQOS - a combination of real tobacco in sticks and advanced technologies in an electronic device.

— Is the marketing strategy of iQOS different in Russia and in the world?

— The strategy is the same for all countries where we sell iQOS. There may be differences in the details of its implementation, including depending on local legislation and consumer preferences. As for the tools and channels that we use, I think the most important thing for us now is the so-called “word of mouth”, when an adult consumer himself tells his smoking friends and acquaintances about our product. Therefore, a lot of effort is aimed at getting people to share information about the product.

As I already said, when a product appears on the market that simply did not exist before, first of all it is necessary to form a certain attitude towards it. And for it to be positive, our own attitude towards consumers must be appropriate. If a person likes a product and service, he will be happy to share it with others. They say that if you like something, you tell seven people about it, and if you don’t like it, then tell 15 people. I'm not chasing numbers - those seven are much more important to me.

— How did the consumer perceive the device?

“I always look forward to the next financial report of our company, because every time the results of iQOS encourage me and indicate that this product has incredible market potential that we have to unlock. Let me give you an example: just recently the intermediate results in Tokyo were announced. We started sales there last September and within six months we occupied 3% of the tobacco market.

No other product we have ever launched has achieved such amazing success. About 60% of Japanese who bought iQOS stopped smoking regular cigarettes and completely switched to our product. As for Russia, iQOS was launched here quite recently, and it is still premature to talk about specific results.

Philip Morris International, Inc. is a leading international tobacco company. Occupies over 15% of the market outside the United States. Excluding China and the United States, it owns almost a third of the global cigarette market. Products manufactured in Philip Morris International factories are sold in 200 countries around the world. In 13 countries the company ranks first in terms of sales; In another 9 countries, Philip Morris International ranks second.

History of Philip Morris (Philip Morris)

History of Philip Morris began in 1847, when entrepreneur Philip Morris opened his first tobacco shop in London. After the founder's death, his brother Leopold Morris and Joseph Gruhnebaum formed Philip Morris & Company and Gruhnebaum Ltd. In 1881, the shares of the expanded company went public. In 1885, when the partnership between its two owners ended, the organization received a new name - "Philip Morris & Co Ltd." William Thomson bought the company in 1894. The American branch of the organization was registered in New York in 1904. In 1919, the company was transferred to new owners, who re-registered it in the state of Virginia. The international division was founded in 1955. After this, vigorous international expansion began. 1995 also saw the opening of Philip Morris International's first plant in Asia. In 2012, the organization generated net income of nearly $77.5 million. Earnings per share: $5.17. The declared dividend per ordinary share is $3.24. In the second quarter of 2013, the company showed the following results: $7.9 billion in net revenue, $3.4 billion in operating income. Philip Morris shares were redeemed by her; The organization allocated $1.5 billion for this. 16.7 million of its own securities were purchased. The company is currently headed by Andre Kalandzopoulos. The organization has 53 factories. 78 thousand employees work in various divisions around the world. Philip Morris is headquartered in New York, but the organization does not do business in the United States, as Philip Morris brands in that country are still owned by the Altria group of companies, the former owner of Philip Morris International. The latter was owned by this group of companies until March 2008. Among the brands under which the company sells its products are such popular names as L&M, Marlboro, ST Dupont Paris, U Mild, Philip Morris, Red and White, Bond Street, Chesterfield, Parliament, Morven Gold, Muratti, Virginia Slims and others. The company's activities are still considered quite controversial and have become the basis for numerous lawsuits. The fact is that the main component of Philip Morris International products, tobacco, is the most common cause of reversible mortality. In addition, tobacco is addictive. Accordingly, the activities of an organization are often subject to restrictions by the authorities of different states where the company operates.

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