RICHMOND, Va. -- Swedish Match, the makers of White Owl cigars, has launched a new pipe-tobacco cigar called Night Owl.
Extending the company’s White Owl brand, Night Owl tipped pipe-tobacco cigars are packaged in a resealable FoilFresh pouch for freshness. The company has tested the new packaging with consumers who prefer it over a package-box design, according to a Swedish Match consumer study.
“The pipe-tobacco cigar category is a unique one with tremendous opportunity,” said Michael Lowzinski, assistant brand manager for cigars and pipe tobacco for Swedish Match, Richmond, Va. “This particular segment of cigars has experienced slower growth and less innovation, but we fully expect the introduction of Night Owl cigars to change the forecast.”
Previously only sold in Kansas, Missouri and through convenience retailer Wawa Inc., Wawa, Pa., and Laval, Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard’s Circle K convenience-store chain, Night Owl pipe-tobacco cigars are now available nationwide in four flavors, including classic, wine, tropical and black cherry. The Night Owl flavor profiles selected for the launch are aligned with the top segment flavors, which consumers rated as being on par with other successful White Owl cigar flavors, Swedish Match officials said.
“Fueling growth in cigar segments is nothing new for Swedish Match,” Lowzinski said. “We’ve done this in the natural leaf, rolled-leaf and homogenized-tobacco leaf categories through our Game, Game Leaf and White Owl product lines.”
Night Owl is available in a variety of formats, including two for 99 cents, save on 2, four-packs, and limited-edition pairings with White Owl Spiked Lemonade and Game Blue Raspberry cigars.
CHICAGO -- Positioning its nicotine-delivery pouch Zyn as a hip, discreet alternative to smoking, Swedish Match designed a temporary retail store in Chicago to resemble an upscale coffee shop, complete with common seating area, free Wi-Fi and vinyl record players.
The marketing play echoes what Swedish Match has done in the past, having opened concept stores for its General Snus product a couple of years ago. As for Zyn, Swedish Match started rolling out the product after an initial test in Denver and West Coast markets in 2015. Zyn is now in 13 western states, with the Midwest launch currently progressing toward its goal of 1,000-1,200 c-stores, gift shops, tobacco outlets and other retail spaces in the Chicago area.
“We’re building toward capacity,” said Joe Ackerman, director of marketing, new products, for Swedish Match, Richmond, Va. “Chicago is a market that’s important to us.”
Here’s a look into the Zyn pop-up store in Chicago ...
Customers must be 21 or older to enter the Zyn store, where they'll find the new product available in six flavors: cool mint, wintergreen, cinnamon, peppermint, spearmint and coffee. The Zyn pouches come in circular, child-resistant containers and are available in two nicotine strengths: 3 milligrams or 6 milligrams.
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