Philip Morris Companies, Inc. is a leading consumer products company with three major segments: tobacco, food and beer. Each of these strategic business units (SBUs) is a significant force in its respective market; the company is the largest cigarette company in the United States and the largest American food processor (Shea, 1993, p. 1822). Philip Morris has among its assets the most valuable brand in the world: Marlboro (Morris, 1993, p. 43). This research examines the advertising campaign that created this successful brand, and the strategies that have driven the campaign.
In 1992, Philip Morris dominated the domestic cigarette market with approximately a 45 percent market share. Tobacco products accounted for 43 percent of 1992 revenue and 69 percent of the company's operating profit (Barrett, 1993, p. 317). That dependence on a single business unit makes the company especially vulnerable to legislation and litigation arising from the sale of tobacco products. In recent years, Americans have become increasingly concerned with public health and with the sale and regulation of cigarettes and other tobacco products. Many public facilities now prohibit smoking indoors, and designated smoking areas have become commonplace at restaurants and other private establishments throughout the country. Announcements by the Environmental Protection Agency in early 1993 that second hand smoke can be a significant contributor to lung cancer has been met with vehement and expensive rebuttals by the tobacco industry led by Philip Morris (Bishop, 1993, p. B1).
The American cigarette companies also work in close concert in order to battle litigation and potential restrictions on their ability to conduct business. The companies are eager to fight the now-emerging second hand smoke controversy, and have pooled resources in some cases to be able to do so (Bishop, 1993, p. B1). Because of its size and the importance of these issues to Phil...