WHAT WE DO
CONCEPT, DESIGN, LAUNCH & DEVELOPMENT
In developing a new brand project from scratch, we work together with all relevant divisions of the clients company, taking detailed note of what the client desires to achieve both in the medium and long term, listening to individuals in the various divisions and, together, formulating a strategic marketing plan for their new brand.
We believe in working together with our clients in a spirit of team co-operation at all stages – from initial think-tank brainstorming, to longer term consulting and reporting.
The launch activity of the brand may focus on either individual or multiple markets, incorporating impact-marketing techniques or roll-out promotional campaigns - which could comprise aspects of advertising, push-pull teams and also Media PR linked with events management.
With our involvement in the project from design stage onwards, we ensure that whatever marketing plan is formulated, it remains close to the core values of the brand and that whatever campaign has been agreed, it is followed relentlessly, scrupulously and without compromise.
Special Projects including Dispute Resolution
Our extensive network of contacts throughout the world has placed us in a particularly unique position to take on special assignments in various fields related to the tobacco, general agriculture and transport logistics industries.
During the early part of 2005 we negotiated a deal on behalf of a tobacco group to purchase a large transport company in Africa and are currently engaged in other negotiations on behalf of tobacco groups to make other medium-sized acquisitions within the global tobacco industry itself.
Our specialist associates have many years’ experience in mergers & acquisitions and we present a fully-fledged highly qualified multi-disciplinary legal, accounting and negotiating team, with many successful and substantial deals collectively under our belts.
We work on a strictly confidential basis throughout these special projects and work on a strict mandate basis only.
Other services provided relate to problem solving and dispute resolution.
Dispute Resolution example
A recent example concerned a large consignment of cigarettes, which were rejected by our client’s distributor in a certain country, as having non-conforming packaging specifications.
Our brief was to find a solution, which culminated in our advice and assistance whereby the rejected consignment was sold by us on behalf of the client into a totally different market rather than being destroyed, thus creating a new market for the client, who was then able to replace the goods for the original market at no loss to themselves.
Special Project example
Mauritian Cigars
A seven month feasibility study was undertaken on behalf of the Mauritian Government … to explore and determine the viability of regenerating an inland region of the declining sugar agricultural industry into a cigar-tobacco growing & hand making industry in Mauritius.
This project included research from training and employment of skilled craftsmen and women, to cigar leaf agriculture on an ultimately large scale, initially driven by exports to specific targeted markets related to the mix of tourist nationalities visiting Mauritius, as part of a 20 year plan to develop Mauritius as a recognized “New World” cigar producing nation included amongst others such as Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, in opposition to the established “Old World” cigar nation of Cuba.
Intellectual Property Management
The world’s larger corporations continually register new brand names and keep alive existing on-the-shelf trademarks in their product categories, either for their own future use, or to block their competitors from obtaining those trademarks.
Thus, prior to embarking on concept development of a brand it is often necessary to commission a WIPO to establish the trademark compatibility with other similar marks and thereafter to conduct detailed searches of individual markets within the specific product categories for the intended trademark.
A trademark from a brand owners ‘shelf’ quite often does not suit the intended use – either geographically or psycho graphically, thus new trademark generation becomes linked in with the design and brand development concepts. We work closely with our client’s marketing departments to generate trademarks to encapsulate the essence of the brand’s intended life, for we believe that a brand is a living being.
We work closely with leading London patent lawyers, Wildbore & Gibbons, to ensure all needs are covered, either in the searching for conflicting names or in the new brand- generation processes.
We also maintain, for those customers who do not have the facilities, a trademark advisory and management service, which advises clients on the problems and pitfalls associated with trademark registrations around the globe.
We examine what organizations are doing to stay relevant and competitive in this fast-paced world, and which ones are doing it best. We then strategize using smart tools and global resources in order to understand the implications of every choice our clients can make. Get in touch to learn more about how this service can help you.
Materials Procurement and Manufacturing
Throughout our many years of crafting, designing and developing tobacco brands we have necessarily involved ourselves completely in the customer’s product, to the extent of working closely with all top materials suppliers to the industry, as well as many specialist manufacturing facilities spread across the globe.
Every brand is unique and therefore has unique characteristics of blend, of design and particularly of materials components – from outer packaging to inner wrapping, to shape and size, the latter dependant upon machinery capabilities.
Unlike other design companies, we have extensive additional experience in materials and manufacturing, which assists our overall design brief from our customers – rather like a complete package.
The perfect materials for individual customers’ brands do not necessarily reside in one country, but could be spread over many countries. Our knowledge of the global packaging and manufacturing sectors, combined with our Logistics expertise, provide peace of mind to our customers who are therefore able to relax in the knowledge that we are able to provide solutions for their ancillary functions.
We furthermore pride ourselves in our lateral thinking and creative brand crafting to originate new concepts for individual brands, no matter how small a material component may be, to set a brand apart from its peers and give it an edge over its competitors in any given market.
Our creative skills are honed to work within a customer’s budget and, in this regard, we believe we are part of the overall customer project team.
Global Markets Management
We have an extensive global network of Distributors to whom we can introduce a client’s brand and whom we can encourage to take on a client’s brand – depending on the brand proposition relating to specific markets and distributor strengths in particular fields.
We have worked closely with numerous tobacco distributors in many countries and have vast experience in managing what we call the ‘distributor mentality’.
Distributors need constant guidance, constant communication, extensive staff training, assistance in creating their own internal ‘brand champions’ for our clients’ brands, as well as professional advice on seeding brands from scratch with low Principal’s budgets.
A weak distributor will always demand a large ‘market spend’, whereas a strong distributor will work independently, prepared to spend their own money for rewards down the line.
It all comes down to ‘managing the distributor’ and we have developed unique proven techniques to obtain the best results possible from any given distributor.
We steadfastly ensure that the agreed Marketing Plan is adhered to, religiously and honestly, by the distributor.
This complex aspect of our services can be linked in with a client’s brand development and/or marketing plan, or can be treated as a separate stand-alone project, even for an existing brand which is perceived either to be failing or to be unsuccessful, either through the failure of the client’s existing distributor’s efforts or through lack of effective ‘distributor management’ by the client, or through an ill-conceived marketing plan, or through an ill-conceived brand design or brand concept, relative to a specific market.
SELECT VALUED CLIENTS
Japan Tobacco International (JTI)
Imperial Tobacco (UK)
Gallaher (UK)
Chancellor Tobacco (UK)
Gold Leaf Tobacco Company (RSA)
Swedish Match
Mauritius Government
Monus (Serbia)
Unifreight (Zimbabwe)
VCT (Netherlands)
Metco (Cyprus)
ZaCanna Products (RSA)