[Intl-tobacco] Philip Morris local cigarette for Romania

[Robert Weissman]

Raluca Topliceanu
The business review - Bucharest; June26 - July2, 2000 / Volume 3, number25

PHILIP MORRIS GOES LOCAL

Philip Morris Romania last week officially launched a new
cigarette created especially for Romanian market, Callatis.
"This is the first time that an international tobacco
company has decided to launch a local brand of cigarettes,"
said Peter Imre, Corporate Affairs Director with Philip
Morris Romania.
"The new product comes after five months of market studies
made with AC Nielsen, studies that showed us the interest
of the Romanian Smoker for local cigarette brands, produced
at the highest quality levels and having an affordable
price," added Dan Dumitrescu, Brand Manager with Philip
Morris Romania.

The studies showed that 46.1 percent of the Romanian tobacco
market is covered by local brands, 31.6 percent by low price
cigarettes, 13,9 percent by medium price cigarettes and only
8.4 percent by high quality, high price cigarettes.=20
"We noticed that there was a niche between Snagov and the
cheaper international brands," added Dumitrscu.

Though the Callatis brand is designed to attract smokers
with low income that can not afford to buy high price
cigarettes, the Philip Morris team is keen to point out that
the cigarettes retain a high quality, as they are made here
in the Philip Morris factory, with imported tobacco.
"The price for a pack of Callatis cigarettes will be
8,500 lei. The name of the brand and the design of the
packaging was chosen by our consumers who were looking for
quality and a cheap price. Callatis is a perfect combination
between traditional and modern," said Imre.

He also mentioned that the new brand will be supported by
"the biggest campaign ever made for a local cigarette brand.
The budget for the campaign is valued at a couple of hundred=20
thousand of dollars," said Imre without mentioning the exact
amount of money that will be invested in promoting the brand.
He was also reluctant to mention the value of the investment
that Phillip Morris has made on the Romanian market and in
its factory. "The works on the factory are made step by step.
At the moment we are almost about to finish the work and we
want to start processing the tobacco here in our factory.

When we will finish what we want to do here, than we will be=20
able to reveal the value of the investment. Until then we
just want to do something for the Romanian market,"
concluded Imre.
The Philip Morris factory in Romania is one of the most
modern production units the company has worldwide, as Romania
was and still is considered as one of the most dynamic markets
in Central and Eastern Europe.

Raluca Topliceanu
The business review - Bucharest; June26 - July2, 2000 / Volume 3, number25

Snagov=3Dlocal brand
1USD =3D 21.500 lei =E0 A pack of Callatis =3D 0.395 USD