TOB Magazine

OTP PIPES RYO

BRAND

SPOTLIGHT

A FEW YEARS AGO, WHEN CHEYENNE TO-

BACCO DECIDE

D to extend its line of filtered cigars,

the company opted to take a novel approach. Rather

than research consumer trends and make an educat-

ed guess about what would sell, the company went out

and asked its customers to weigh in on what flavor they

wanted to see next.

“We ran a campaign that allowed our consumers

to select the next flavor they wanted to see on store

shelves,” explains Jessica Fratarcangelo, marketing direc-

tor. It proved a winning strategy. Tropical 100s ranked

first in the vote and went on to become a strong seller

for the company.

But the company, which prides itself on following

the adage “the customer knows best,” didn’t stop

with the top-ranking option. “While our Tropical

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TOBACCO BUSINESS

[

MAY

JUNE

17 ]

Cheyenne Cigars:

A Partnership Approach

This Grover, North Carolina-based manufacturer prides

itself on listening to—and learning from—

the customers and retailers it serves.

BY JENNIFER GELFAND

100s ranked No. 1 in that vote, we continuously got

requests to launch the Strawberry too,” says Fratar-

cangelo, noting that Strawberry filtered cigars were

introduced in February. “We truly believe in provid-

ing the products that our adult consumers desire, and

that it’s great for retailers to bring in a product that

already has instant demand.”

That customer-centric approach has been central

to its operating philosophy since the company was

launched in 2002, as

chronicled in an article about

the company’s history, “The Little Cigarette Company

That Could,” in our November/December 2016 issue.

Recently, we circled back to look more deeply into the

company’s filtered cigar products in an interview with

Fratarcangelo about Cheyenne Cigars. Excerpts from

that conversation follow.

We truly

believe in

providing

the products

that our adult

consumers

desire.