LIFESTYLE MARKETING

This article talks about lifestyle marketing and the brand that introduced lifestyle marketing,
Marlboro.
In the 1950’s, when health reports began circulating that cigarettes cause cancer, the 8 billion
dollar cigarette industry was completely put on stake.In light of this new research, Marlboro
made it their mission to create a filtered cigarette which (at the time) ,they believed would lower
the amount of toxic chemicals being inhaled. Marlboro thought of repositioning itself to cover the
niche market of men who were concerned about their health. However, the problem was that
filtered cigarettes were viewed as weaker and therefore not very masculine. So, in action,
Marlboro adopted a strategy which soon became the phoenix of advertising.
They introduced lifestyle advertising, which, in layman terms means associating values, ideals,
aspirations and aesthetics with the product so that the target audience identifies with particular
lifestyle attributes provided by the product, instead of the product. Marlboro created a character,
Marlboro man, who was primarily shown as a rugged handsome cowboy in picturesque wild
terrains. It embodied characteristics of self-confidence, freedom of choice, leadership, strength,
independence, adventure, masculinity and peak physical health. The advertisements showing
Marlboro man made people want to emulate him and thus tend to buy Marlboro’s cigarettes,
even though the actual cigarette didn’t get the footage of even 10 seconds in their
advertisements. That was the power of Marlboro man, a fictional character’s power. Marlboro
man undoubtedly became the signature mascot for the brand.Marlboro was the first brand to
properly introduce and popularise the concept of lifestyle marketing. James Twitchell, author of
20 Ads that Shook the World, told the BBC that, the Marlboro Man was an achievement
because it found success at a time when Americans were learning that cigarettes were
genuinely dangerous, addictive products that could kill you.
"The Marlboro Man was strong, powerful. He never speaks. He's so tough," Mr Twitchell said.
"The genius of the ad is that at the same time there was a rising realisation that this thing will kill
you, it was identified with a character who was, on the face of it, indomitable."Mentioning the
statistics, before the Marlboro man campaign, the company had 1% market share. In 1955,
when the Marlboro Man campaign was started, sales were at 5 billion dollars.By 1957, sales
were at 20 billion dollars, representing a 300% increase within two years. There was an
immediate effect of the campaign on sales. It soon became the 4th largest tobacco company in
US. Marlboro since then has been synonymous with the most popular cigarette. It was the move
that made Marlboro company what it is today. Who would have thought that repositioning done
to cover the niche market of health concerned men would lead on to make the largest cigarettes
selling company of the world. The immediate success of the Marlboro Man campaign led to
heavy imitation. Old Golds adopted the tagline marking it a cigarette for "independent thinkers".
Chesterfield depicted cowboy and other masculine occupations to match their tagline: "Men of
America" smoke Chesterfields. Infact, the strategy of Marlboro to tie up Marlboro cigarette
smokers to free, strong, adventurous men, i.e. lifestyle marketing , is one of the most common
marketing strategies now. From Red Bull drinkers being shown as instantly energetic and free,
to Coca Cola drinkers associated with being happy and smiling always, Marlboro has led to
quite a number of replications of their smart strategy of lifestyle marketing.
YASHASWI GUPTA