Page 27 - TOB Magazine March/April 2013
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TOBACCO OUTLET BUSINESS
MARCH/APRIL 2013
And so while the category itself is
evolving, so, too, are individual brands
like ECO-CIGS. Vecchie guesstimates
there’s probably been about “40 changes
in our e-cigs” since they were originally
launched in 2009. “They’re evolving
almost every month,” he says. “The
products are getting better and smaller
as the technology improves—they’re
starting to be true to the size of a
traditional cigarette, and we believe
over time, that is where the consumer
wants to be with this—at the feel, size
and weight of a traditional cigarette
experience.”
Regarding best retailer practices that
have evolved in e-cigs, Vecchie believes
stores should now carry at least three
different brands of both rechargeable
and disposable types—and not all at the
same price point.
Pete Danielson, director of sales and
marketing for relatively new e-cigarette
brand CIGR8, believes retailers would
be best with at least five facings. “If I
were a retailer embarking on e-cigs, the
first thing I would try to figure out is
which are the premium brands, which
are the ‘regular’ brands and which are
the value brands—and I would then do
two premium, two regular and one value
brand, and the value brand could even
be the private label store brand if they’re
into that,” he advises. “If retailers don’t
have different quality levels and price
points, they’re really missing out on this
growing marketplace.”
CIGR8 distinguishes itself by its
premium personality—evident right off
the bat in its unique hexagonal-shaped
packaging, encasing what it believes
to be a true quality product that’s
also affordable. “We wanted to have a
realistic cigarette experience in flavor,
in the look and feel, and in the amount
of vapor that comes out,” Danielson
explains. “We’re emulating the golden
age of smoking in the brand look and
feel—our intent is to have an old-school
feel with a high-tech e-cig element.”
The company also claims to make
the most premium e-cigar in the
marketplace—its Maduro e-cigar,
retailing between $130-$150, backed by
a top-quality lifetime warranty on every
component—including the wrap, the
cap and the battery.
Variety is the spice of e-cigs, so
Kretek International, the exclusive
distributor for CIG2O and EZ Cig,
made sure it took on e-cigs with
different personalities. “Because the
market is growing so fast, it’s going to
take more than one brand to satisfy our
customers,” says Charles White, with
Kretek’s product development. “They
have two distinct personalities.”
CIG2O, for example, is more
traditional looking—the e-cig looks
like a cigarette, whereas EZ Cig got a
little bold with its stick wrapping—
in plaids and paisleys. Both lines
have rechargeables and disposables,
but CIG2O is “extremely strong in
rechargeables, while EZ Cig is very
strong in disposables,” according to
White. “That’s just how it shook out.”
But both were manufactured with
the foresight to be interchangeable; an
EZ Cig rechargeable and a CIG2O
rechargeable have cartomizers that can
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