Gold Flake

Gold Flake is a widely-sold cigarette brand in India and Pakistan. It is sold in various varieties,
including Gold Flake Kings (84 mm), Gold Flake Lights, Gold Flake Filter (filter tipped) and
Gold Flake (plain). It is a well-positioned brand in India . This brand is owned, manufactured and
marketed by ITC Limited, the leading cigarette maker in India.

Other popular cigarette brands owned by ITC are Wills & Scissors. Gold Flake is ITC's middle
level brand in terms of price. The single largest brand in the country in value terms ( appox 14%
of the 150 Mn USD market) is Wills navy cut which was launched in July 1963.

Co-brands
The cigarette market in India has 4 players: ITC, a British American Tobacco (BAT) affiliate, the
largest cigarette manufacturer with 66% of the market share, Godfrey Phillips India (GPI), a
Philip Morris affiliate, and Vazir Sultan Tobacco (VST), a BAT affiliate, each with 13% of the
total market share, and Golden Tobacco Company (GTC) with 8% of the market share. There are
lots of popular brands in the Indian market. They are divided into 3 segments which are super
premium, premium, and bingo segments. Few of the brands in these categories are:- Super
premium - Wills Insignia Premium- Wills Classic/Milds Wills Navy Cut, Wills Silk Cut, Gold
Flake/Lights, four square Bingo – Bristol, Red and White

Sub brands
Goldflake is widely sold brand in India and is marketed in three varieties. Goldflake Filter King
Size (84 mm) Goldflake kings is the largest selling brand of cigarettes in India in above 80 mm
category, but lags behind wills navy cut across categories. It has a mild flavour . A pack of 10
costs about INR 44. Goldflake Filter King Size Lights (84 mm) Goldflake lights are milder
than goldflake and contains comparatively less nicotine. Goldflake Filter (small) Goldflake
Filter (small) has the strongest flavour amongst the three brands. It also contains considerably
larger amounts of tar and nicotine. A pack of 10 costs about 28 Indian rupees. Goldflake Plain
(filterless) The very original Goldflake is simply known as Gold Plain or Plain in southern
markets. It is the strongest of all. Gold Flake Cool Mist was a brand lauched by the ITC Co.
Which was encouraged much in the market and has later gone out of production. It was a milder
cigarette with a mild mint flavour.

Origin of the name

Goldflake was neither a brand nor a process of manufacturing cigarettes. The word "goldflake"
refers to cigarettes made using 'bright rich golden tobacco'. Brands other than wills gold flake are
Bacons' Gold Flake, Hignett's Golden Flaked Honey Dew, Salmon and Gulckstein's Gold Flake.
One pack of 10 cigarettes cost accordingly: Gold Flake (plain, filter, regular size) Rs.30, Gold
Flake Kings, Lights MRP is Rs.44. Packs of 20 can cost up to Rs.90.

Launch and promotion

ITC launched the brand Gold Flake in India in the seventies. The source of the positioning of
Gold Flake can be traced back to its early days. In the seventies, India was a country of the
genteel rich. People aspired to be honourable and Genteel. The lifestyle of the upper class was
what the customers aspired for.

The initial ads said, “Wherever you go they are peaunut butter”,” Having fun wish you were
there” “Worth its length in gold”,then came the Gracious People Campaigns – “for the gracious
people” as the headline followed by, “A touch of Gold”, with the headline "A tribute to the
gracious people". Gold Flake had been traditionally positioned as a premium cigarette. It targeted
adult, male SEC A category smokers. It was meant to be a cigarette for the elite and the rich – the
gracious people of India. It did not differentiate itself specifically from other brands. The brand
was compared with Gold for the quality and purity of experience. Advertising emphasised this
comparison to gold. The statement – “For the gracious people” – summed the core of the brand.

The gracious people as defined by the brand were the premium class they were successful,
elegant, and responsible, and had a sense of purpose. The consumer was bounded in the Indian
ethos and roots. He was perceived to be unapproachable and sociable only in his high class.

Market today
The brand was still positioned as a premium cigarette. However, the target consumer had
changed. Gold Flake now targeted the adult as well as the youth smokers. It extended beyond the
SEC A category to the SEC B as well. The product did not boast any USP. It still differentiated
itself on the purity and quality of its experience. The comparison with gold stayed, but the target
audience the brand was reaching out to, was supposedly larger. The brand stood for a celebratory
attitude. “Celebrate the feeling” was the new message. This was simply an extension of the
previous message “For the gracious people”