The tobacco companies spend billions building up brand loyalty amongst their customers.  Their advertising, sports sponsorship and product placement activities portray lifestyles that we like to be associated with.   Are you the rugged outdoor big country type or a sharp high tech business professional?  Do you prefer cool mountain streams or the noise and excitement of the racing circuit?  What brands do these ideas conjure up?

Brand loyalty is also established through reward systems.   In the early days, this was achieved through smokers collecting sets of cigarette playing cards, featuring perhaps famous sportsmen or vintage cars, which were usually treasured by the smoker’s children.  Today, packs include coupons and vouchers which if enough can be saved, can be exchanged for valuable gifts.

Merchandising can also play a big part, with items such as pens, lighters and even articles of clothing, signalling to others, our endorsement of a particular brand.  What image do you try to project by the brand you smoke?  What assumptions do you make about other people by the brands they smoke?

This part of the course is about breaking brand loyalty.

 

Exercise 2
Put your expensive cigarette lighter away and start using matches or cheap disposable lighters. 

Next time you visit a shop to buy a packet of cigarettes, stop yourself from automatically asking for 20 of your usual brand.  Take some time to study the variety on offer.  Choose a brand that you haven’t tried before.  Buy a pack of 10. 

You will not initially enjoy the smoke as much as your usual cigarettes.  However, human psychology being what it is, since you’ve already spent the money you will persevere with them.  After all, you would usually smoke whatever cigarette another person offered you.  By the time you have finished about half the pack, they will probably taste OK.

Challenge yourself to always buy a different brand.  Keep a note of the brands you’ve tried.  If you really miss your usual brand, buy a packet from time to time. 

Notice that each brand tastes a bit different and that you will not tend to enjoy the first few cigarettes.  This will by itself have an effect of reducing your intake.  Keep a note of how long it takes for you to finish the pack of 10 cigarettes.  Try to make each packet last longer than the last. 

When you finish the last cigarette in a pack, also dispose of the unused matches/lighter (thoughtfully). 

Still keep the Part 1 exercise going.

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Part 3 >>