Staff Report

Since stringent marketing restrictions were adopted by the signing of the Master Settlement Agreement, In the tobacco category, point-of-purchase merchandising has grown in importance as a way to familiarize adult smokers with cigarette brands.

Bob Johnson, a promotional materials manager in the purchasing department for Camel at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, has made the Camel marketing team's concepts come alive at retail for about four years. A 30-year veteran at RJRT, Johnson is man of many talents - part artist, part craftsman, part construction engineer and part concept developer and total perfectionist - Johnson is particularly suited for the job.

"This is more than a job for me," he says. "It's more like a passion. I love creating Camel displays - finding new innovative ways to express what the Camel brand wants to tell adult smokers at retail about their cigarette styles."

Johnson has even been known to embarrasses his wife when they stop by a convenience store. While his wife picks up supplies, Bob is drawn to the retail merchandise displays, playing with them to see how they are designed and constructed - much to his wife's dismay.

Johnson considers this part of his job at RJ. Reynolds Tobacco Company. "By studying all types of point of-purchase displays, I get new ideas. Often seeing a new display or technique will spark ideas for me which I translate into point-of-sale displays for Camel."

Reynolds Tobacco has been recognized by the Point of Purchase Advertising International (POPAI) Awards nine times with awards ranging from gold to bronze for displays Johnson has crafted. The award selections are based on innovation of design, functionality for the retailer, effectiveness in communicating product attributes, reinforcement of brand awareness, and overall display and marketing effectiveness.

"My goal," Johnson explains, "is to get the retailer excited about the point-of-sale displays that we're creating. If they get excited, they'll put up your display, which draws attention to Camel and increases sales."

"Bob has a unique talent to take the image of Camel, combine it with the current vision of the brand and bring it to reality," says John Ellegate, senior retail marketing manager for Camel. "His input is highly regarded by the marketing team on Camel, by our advertising agencies and suppliers. Bob has raised the quality bar for us, and brings tremendous diversity to the point of sale pieces for Camel."

One of Johnson' s most successful retail displays was used to launch the line extension Turkish Gold. The display is a combination of cardboard and lightweight plastic. It is capped off with a gold plastic onion dome, the focal point for the display. The onion dome draws the consumers' attention and highlights the brand' s point of difference - its smooth and mellow Turkish and domestic blend of tobaccos.

"The excitement of the display came from the combination of materials used, the rich colors we achieved, and the effectiveness of translating the new news on this product," Johnson says. "Seeing the positive reaction of the retail trade to the display was very gratifying."

The finishing touches are now being completed on some new displays for the brand for 2001. Johnson is linking Camel's strong heritage of smooth and mellow Turkish and domestic tobaccos to an architectural theme of a Turkish village that first appeared on the Camel pack in 1913.

"Bob's talent gives us point-of-purchase pieces that brings Camel's message to the store shelves," says Fran Creighton, vice president marketing for Camel.

"It's been a real team effort," Creighton says. "We're very pleased with the initial results of Turkish Gold. Turkish Gold is reinforcing Camel's quality perceptions among adult smokers, and it's bolstering the image of the entire Camel brand family."

Jackie Renegar, vice president of purchasing, says, "For Bob, his job is a 24/7 type of thing. He literally takes displays home with him just to improve and refine the designs. He is proactive in making Camel come alive at retail."

Since the signing of the Master Settlement Agreement, point-of-sale materials have become an even more important tool to reach adult smokers, notes Ellegate. "Cigarettes are the most restricted consumer products in terms of marketing," she says. "Therefore, the limited vehicles we have left to us need to work extra hard to communicate our message to adult smokers of one of our competitors' brands."

Recently, Johnson devised a way to include product into a three-dimensional counter display that mirrored a "Pleasure to Burn" advertisement for Camel. The Camel ad focused on a 50's style carhop taking a cigarette break while sitting on a classic 50's car. Working with creative people from several agencies, Johnson turned the well-recognized trunk wings of the car into the display base - complete with working lights that have a long shelf-life needed for retail and imitation chrome accents to draw attention. The "trunk" was used to hold display product. The rear window became the backdrop for the display unit. The carhop was highlighted through the use of a lug-on - a three dimensional treatment of a display piece made on thick poster board making the piece pop out.

Ellegate says, "This unique treatment and combination of materials and elements brought this ad to traffic stopping reality in retail situations. Now, that's competitive edge at retail."

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., P.O. Box 2959, Winston Salem, NC 27102, Tel: (336) 741-6956, Fax: (336) 741-4214, Email: tradert@rjrt.com