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Over the last several years, cigar brands have started to get more involved in the digital space. Some start and are regularly involved in social networks. Many companies have hopped on the Twitter bandwagon.
For the most part, it’s been a desperate game of catch-up in the digital space for what have always been very traditional companies.
My buddy, Mike Maddaloni, and I were smoking a couple of Drew Estate Chateau Real cigars last night (here’s the Chateau Real maduro review) when I finally thought about the web URL that Drew Estate prints on the inside of its cigar bands. I had seen the Web site printed on the bands before, but had never given it much thought until now.
Drew Estate is the only company I know of that prints its Web site on its cigar bands.
Let’s think about this for a moment. When you smoke a cigar, there’s a good chance you’re:
- with someone else, having a conversation
- removing and examining your band after you smoke your cigar down
Drew Estate isn’t an especially forward thinking company; it’s smart in its thinking about the present. It’s creating opportunities for word of mouth. Artwork aside, the Drew Estate cigar band — more than any other cigar from any other brand — is a natural conversation starter, and the Drew Estate company Web site is the perfect place to continue the brand conversation.
Of course, not to mention most people actually keep their cigar bands. (Thanks for pointing this out, Patrick.)
More brands should think about their bands as one of the best opportunities to create word of mouth.
What other examples of smart, unexpected branding have you seen in the cigar business lately?
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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Great topic. Look what Gary V. did for wine. Much like wine, cigars can be an intimidating product to dive into. In the online space people feel more comfortable to ask questions and do research without looking like a rookie.
Cigar companies that can leverage the digital space to educate brand new cigar smokers will have a major leg up in establishing life long fans.
On a funny note I think it’s interesting that Drew Estate is doing this since I know the gentleman who has worked with them since day one as their outside IT management, so I’m wondering if my friend is responsible for this.
I agree with you, Daniel, on how most in the industry don’t label Drew Estate as forward thinking, but I applaud their efforts to transition their marketing efforts into the modern internet-dominated age. Out of the other major players in the cigar business I don’t think anyone has really done anything major of note in the band category with two exceptions that are rapidly becoming trends: double bands and foot bands.
Many younger companies are going out of their way to have a large, colourful double band–usually the main band has a logo flanked by “Hecho a mano” and the country of origin–but when displaying a smoke in a store it can be seen across a room and makes a statement. I personally am happy to see companies now embracing the foot band, not only as a means of marketing, but aesthetics and quality control. Many cigars can be damaged in transit and a foot band protects against this, plus for specialty blends–i.e. the newest (and one of my personal favourites) Quesada 35th Anniversary–is another means of enforcing brand recognition.
There is one branding trend which I–and a number of my colleagues–particularly don’t appreciate, although it resonates with a certain type of customer: partnering with a name non-native to cigars for advertising. We now have the Cain by Oliva (with Sam Leccia) and Camacho’s Room 101 (with jewelry designer Matt Booth. This is just my opinion, but I think it’s highly insulting to Pete Johnson of Tatuaje fame who was the first in the industry to be photographed with his motorcycles, tattoos, chainlink jewelry, etc: now you have both Leccia and Booth as these spokemen in all ads and on event tours in shops for promotion and they are nothing bad copies of Pete’s persona. At least Camacho has produced a new line that’s smokeable….
I’ve seen a few companies lately sponsoring golf tournaments. This, in my opinion, is a great idea. It not only gets a cigar in the mouth of every golfer there, but golf allows time for conversation as well.
I’ve noticed more and more on twitter. CAO, CubanCrafters, Room 101 Cigars, all there. Vudu9…
Most are embracing twitter and facebook as new ways to reach out to their “fans”
Great topic for discussion!
I have been in consumer products sales and marketing for over 18 years, and the world of communicating and marketing to consumers has DRAMATICALLY changed in the last few years.
While I still believe that traditional marketing and communication has some impact, I believe the shift is moving to more non-traditional marketing via social media websites and online strategies. Think about it. How much time do people spend on Facebook or Twitter today?…and how much time do you have to grab a consumer’s attention to communicate your product/idea??
We live in a world of immediate and now. We live in a world where people become “friends” online based on common interests. I applaud any company that takes the forward progress to keep up with emerging trends in marketing.
When you think about it – the difference between “brand” and “band” is 1 letter! Printing something on the underside of a label is nothing new and goes back much further than the Web, and I am surprised this has not happened more prior to this.
And when you think of it, you also have real estate on the plastic wrapper of the cigar as well, providing they are wrapped, to do additional promotion. Especially for people who like a good cigar but do not study them as much as others, like myself! As we may not have CigarJack.com with us when we’re in the walk-in humidor, this is an excellent way to grab someone’s attention.
mp/m
Many don’t label any cigar manufacturer really as being “forward” thinking, mostly due to how fast the market can change. One bad cigar or crop can really change your outlook on the future of your business.
As for technology, it has been embraced in a big way lately. Everything from Pete Johnson being so involved on facebook in communicating with Tat smokers, Sam Leccia being active on his forum and so accessible to his smokers, and the many who are heavily active on Twitter.
Even outside of being active, it’s now being embraced by some very unexpected people such as E.P. Carrillo and his cigar tweet map.
As far as I can remember, Jonathan Drew has been putting his website on the back of his bands. However I am not sure it’s really a necessary thing to do, as the majority of smokers, believe it or not, are not involved in twitter, online forums, etc. They’ve never heard the word “herf” and they have no clue what a Pass is.
While most of the companies are becoming very active in the Social Networking side, most of their websites still lack. Tatuaje’s website for example is very simple with honestly, little to no information outside of brands and size. Likely due to Pete’s philosophy of simple and clean (much like his bands being like old cuban styling).
The two best manufacturing sites for information are CAO and Rocky Patel, although neither have been actively updated since they were launched.
They have made great strides, however they still have many more to go.
That is a great idea.
We do custom labeled cigars for our client but never thought of leaving a marketing message on the back side of the label.
Great Marketing Idea….
Gallant, Inc.
http://www.GallantGifts.com
Surely sounding like a rookie, I am glad that Drew Estates is showing the way with their url stamp. I agree with your statement that more individuals will entertain the idea without feelin like a rookie, thus people like me.
Glad to follow and learn from the best.
Cheers.
Insightful post, Daniel. There are fundamental branding lessons here that are widely applicable outside the cigar industry, of course.
Likewise, I appreciate the helpful distinction between “forward thinking” and “thinking about the present.” It’s eye opening how many companies in multiple industries still aren’t even doing *that* in Q4, 2009. (Cue sound of palm slapping against forehead.)
@LenKendall: As long as they provide tips on how to cut, light and smoke a cigar, right?
@Lindsay: Thanks for the op-ed.
One of the main drivers of CigarJack is our content’s searchability. If you look up a specific cigar or brand, there’s a good chance the brand will come up first, but more often than not, one of the major retailers comes up #1 in the search rankings.
Cigar companies in general need to move away from Flash-heavy pages and create more robust, user-friendly pages that serve as digital conversation starters.
Jesse, the CigarJack founder, used to love writing his cigar website reviews. Perhaps this conversation will inspire him to resume writing them.
John: Agreed. A golf outing is a great opportunity for word of mouth about cigars, cigar companies and the products themselves. Good call!
mcangeli: But what are they doing with their fans? There seem to be a lot of one-off conversations, but no opportunities, really, to create shared digital experiences around the products themselves. (Sponsored chats, live tastings via the Web, etc.)
Bobby: Absolutely. I remember reading this article — it’s old now — that talks about how , according to one survey. Fascinating.
Mike: Funny you mention that…
Stephen: Has Pete involved his users in product development? Has he connected his Tatuaje customers with each other? It’s about shared experiences, my friend, not one-time Facebook/Twitter/etc. discussions. THAT’S a long-term strategy.
Gallant: Could be an interesting offering. Just start putting it on your products, and you’ll generate buzz that way.
(BTW, you should really think of putting a name on your company. Are you Joe at Gallant? Frank at Gallant? Become a person!)
Luke: If you keep reading this blog, you won’t be a rookie. (There are other fine cigar blogs out there, too.)
Michael: Thanks for the acknowledgment.
I think putting a web-site or URL link is the next logical step in advertising! Very clever idea from Drew Estate! I know a lot of guys who collect bands even if they don’t necessarily smoke the brand. Descriptive and decorative footbands are another popular way of seperating different cigars in a particular line. Great ideas and great marketing!
I do not know if Drew Estate is foreword thinking or not. The use of extra marketing on the band is just plain good cost effective marketing as that is wasted space.
A lot of large companies are lagging behind in the use of social networking and the marketing of their brands. In my opinion this is due to the fact that the brand is usually not identified to a personality which people can identify with or they do not see the ROI in the time spent. This is great news for those companies who have been drowned out by multi-million dollar ad programs and paid ratings in trade magazines.
I quite enjoyed the video’s on drew estate web site and they seemed very personal and un-commerical. The different cigar brands all have a different appeal. The Acid series reminds me of a spin off from the Lars Tetan days.
That is my 2 cents from a small whisky guy who is probably a bit out of my element.
Cheers,
Jeff
I haven’t smoked a Drew Estate in years but looking back at my band collection I see that the URL is printed on the back of the two bands I have. I don’t know of any other manufacturer using the back of the label for anything.
One use that comes to mind is contests. Just like the bottle cap codes on various soft drinks, perhaps a cigar manufacturer could do some sort of giveaway using codes or some type of wording on the band.
A side effect of that idea would be that the manufacturers would have to insure the bands were easy to remove!! (a pet peeve)
Internet presence is not new. J.C. Newman and Fuente have had cigarfamily online for over 10 years. While I understand many do not like the “atmosphere” of that site, it certainly has generated some fierce brand loyalty. I think the Torano family has also done a good job in re-vamping their website earlier this year.
It’s obvious there is a big push to get a younger crowd buying cigars. I think that is why we see people like Sam Leccia, Matt Booth and Pete Johnson up front as spokesmen. I think it is working because I see lots of new, young faces in the cigar shops I frequent. It’s only natural that companies use the internet as a means of grabbing the attention of the younger crowd.
I don’t know when Drew Estates started doing this but I know that Xikar has been doing it for at least a year with their Defiance cigars, noticing the URL on that one got me a free hat
Cigar manufactures are going to need to come up with a lot of new ways to market their products. With the smoking bans sweeping the country, the word of mouth marketing is disappearing as there are fewer and fewer places for cigar smokers to meet in public.
The web address on the band is a small step. Manufacturers and retailers are going to need to embrace social media as a way to reach new customers. I really don’t see any company effectively using Twitter or Facebook at this time with the exception of the Room 101 cigar that recently came out. The cigar reps that are on Twitter aren’t really doing anything to get people to try their sticks. Hopefully that will change in the future.
Patrick/Tom: That one thing I didn’t put in the post. That people actually keep their damn cigar bands. Good catch. I’ve updated the post accordingly.
Jeff: You’re right. It’s good, simple marketing, but it generates word of mouth and it’s cheap. I’m surprised more cigar companies don’t put anything on the inside of their bands.
SmokFX: Very cool. When did the promotion run?
Ron: What do you think reps would do? I’d think the reps should be teaching the stores the value of social media and getting them on Twitter and Facebook, no?
Ron: What do you think reps would do? I’d think the reps should be teaching the stores the value of social media and getting them on Twitter and Facebook, no?
Yes, that is one of the big things they need to do. They should also be using social media to promote in-store events, new cigars, and anything else the company is doing to promote their products.
There is a fine line between tweeting as a representative of a company and tweeting as a person. Right now I see a lot of reps using twitter as a person right now. There is nothing wrong with this, but they are losing out on an easy way to promote their products. The same thing goes for stores that use social media. The line between spam and promotion is tough. It’s nice to keep up to date with a retailer by receiving a few marketing tweets mixed in with some personal tweets, than to get the same 2 or 3 tweets over and over trying to sell me something and asking me to RT.
A lot of lessons about social media marketing can be learned from email marketing. I get emails from 3 different Mac resellers. The first sends emails out every day that typically rotate between 3 or 4 products. The other 2 send out 1 email a week in a newsletter form that highlights whats new, whats happening, and some sale products. I almost always buy from those retailers.
Ron: I agree. I think consumers should have relationships with two layers of a brand: the brand itself and the brand reps.
Jon Huber from CAO, for instance, can draw a crowd because, well, he’s Jon. People like him.
However, Jon does not make it out to too many events. His reps do it for him.
Reps could actively seek out cigar smokers in the different regions to travel to, give the stores their names/contact information and encourage the stores to add their names to their e-mail lists.
What stores have you seen using social media well?
(Lindsay, jump in here. What’s Nat Sherman’s social media strategy?)
The Defiance cigar from Xikar had a band that dared you not to pull it off, and then had text on the back to visit their social networking site.
@Ron and @Daniel:
Referencing cigar reps trying to use social media as a marketing tool, I beg to differ. There are a small number of us that utilize Facebook and Twitter nearly all day because we’ve found people who enjoy our labels are genuinely intrigued on our daily working lives. I personally have a large number of my Nat Sherman customers (and dare I say “fans?”) on my personal FB and Twitter pages in addition to my running of the corporate pages as well. Most cigar smokers are casual smokers and have some knowledge of the inner industry goings-on, but in reality consumers are asking what we’re smoking, whether is be something new, what our favourites are, and what can the consumer expect in the future. Just like you see here on CigarJack, I am conscious of trying to employ the right amount of discussions, reviews, and my personal insight on a plethora of tobacco topics.
In terms of Nat Sherman’s social media strategy, I can’t say we have anything solid because I’m the only one pushing for a large social media presence. I’ve been driving a lot of our internet presence and monitoring Google alerts et al for some time now completely alone building up a case to show the Shermans the value and freedom (keyword: free) in this new marketing scenario. It definitely brings in new traffic to the store & further increases my visibility as a representative of the company outside of my appearance industry magazines. (This too can drive business because there is comfort in a familiar face/voice.)
I think one thing consumers fail to realize when people like myself or Dylan Austin or Pete Johnson do when we’re on Twitter is we not only provide a closer link to you and your favourite smokes, but I kind of think of it as a confessional. So many consumers are afraid to ask questions and often become overwhelmed when faced with a large selection at a store, so much so that they sometimes don’t even know how to describe what they want. The beauty of this set-up is you can ask us questions and for explanations that you might not do in public for fear of being labeled as a neophyte. I’m not going to lie–we want you to buy our products because afterall we are a business–but we want to in turn take the pressure off the consumer in the sense that instead of making a snap decision & buying something you might not like/know nothing about, it’s another means for the retailer to work with you and ensure you the most pleasurable smoking experience.
Lindsay: I was just thinking: You should probably write “Nat Sherman” somewhere in your name when you comment.
Let’s face it. Social networking is here to stay and today’s Twitter and Facebook will evolve or roll into tomorrow’s this and that. There is no doubt that a brand is missing out if they are not active in some sort of social networking, but do they back it up when the ‘right now’ of Twitter shifts to some casual research or well thought out purchases?
I have been surprised and frustrated on many occasions after hearing chatter about a product only to find the home base website for said product to be under construction or having zero information about the product. To me, that doesn’t make sense. Don’t show me the menu then tell me the kitchen is closed.
Within the cigar circles on Twitter, which I am a part of, you quickly learn who sees the value of the medium. You also see a style of positioning that, I think, the old school brands just don’t get. It’s hip, trendy, rough and cocky, but true to itself and the industry. So are those using Twitter. Is it any wonder their products are the most anticipated and talked about?
I hope the old school brands figure this out soon. I also hope that those active in social networking don’t forget to zip their flies. After all the instant chatter about your products, your travels and your dinner, which we generally love, make sure we can easily learn more about and connect your products with our wallets. That can’t be done in 140 characters.
@BlowinSmoke needs another cup of coffee.
Rob: Bravo. I completely agree that real relationships can’t be formed in 140 characters. However, I think some brands really want to be accessible, and others want to be on Twitter because it’s the thing now.
Twitter may not be around one day, but if you can form relationships, you can take them to the next microblog or social network. And the one after that.
The companies doing social media right (e.g. Zappos, Dell) don’t just do social media as a marketing tool, but as a customer service channel as well. Good customer service, in the long run, can provide very good PR. And brand affinity.
I’d love to talk about this on your show.
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