Research On The Strategies And Applications Of Cigarette Brand Marketing In T City

Since China has entered WTO, a series of policies have been made to cultivate powerful brand and the concentration degree of the cigarettes became higher. However, compared the scale and concentration degree with the international brand, the cigarette brand of China still has a long way to go. The main problems in the cigarette brand construction include: firstly, though the awareness of brand position is strong, the position theories are abused and misused; secondly, many cigarettes firms begin to use relationship marketing and event marketing, but lots of problems have not solved for working these strategies. Thirdly, cigarettes firms already have some experience and knowledge in brand construction, but many firms only pursuit high popularity since lack of the practice of brand management and the awareness of the sustainable development.After analyze the condition of the cigarette brand construction, this paper advances the guiding ideology for the brand establish. The process for brand construction is scientific, in which the cigarette firms should avoid the speculation behavior as the opportunity cost to rebuild the brand is much high and the firms may lose its leading power in the cigarette market. The fundamental of brand construction is set the selling point in which the customers’choice cost is zero.Firstly, with the guiding ideology of brand construction, this paper focuses on how to positioning the brand in T city, including market positioning, image positioning, culture positioning and category positioning. Positioning is the core of the brand construction.(1) Market positioning requires the brand should impress customers in a special aspect. When they have demand for this aspect, they can think of the brand. Market positioning is very important for marketing, brand construction and further development. First of all, the firm needs to segment the market of T city, and then evaluate the different market and choose the best one. The firms should consider the condition of itself and the competitor, and the demand of the customer. As have a suitable position in the market, the firm could satisfy the different demand of the customers.(2) Image positioning requires the firm to identify its difference and root it into the customers’mind. The core value of the brand comes from the competitive advantage with sound brand association. After identifying the segment market which is suitable for the core value, it should be delivered to consumers exactly. This paper discusses it for three aspects: first of all, identify the competitive advantage of the production; then find the core value of the brand; at last, deliver the brand positioning.(3) The culture value is created by the abstract brand but the production which is only the carrier. The culture of the brand contains the aesthetic values, the life attitude, the personality training, the taste of fashions, and the emotional appeal. When portraying the image of the brand, the firms should pay attention to the humanization, personalization and sociality of the brand.(4) The category positioning requires enhance customers’memory of the category. Category means the single benefit point of the production. As the category degree grows higher, the consumer acceptance is much higher. Then it is difficult to change the poisoning in the customers’mind.Secondly, the brand has a life cycle with different characters. According to this, the paper advances suggestions for T city. If the brand is in the introducing period, category promotion is workable. If it is in the growth stage, popularity improvement is workable. If it is in the mature period, brand maintenance is workable. If it is in the decline period, brand revitalization is workable.Thirdly, this paper advances the strategies of cigarette brand construction, including the cultural packing, the image promotion, cultural transmission, and cultural activities for T city.At last, this paper explains the guarantee mechanism of the brand construction for T city, especially the responsibility of the guarantee mechanism of government and firm itself, and public opinion system, which could become theoretical basis for government’s policy making. At last, the research of this paper provides theoretical basis to the cigarette development of T city. Meanwhile, it is a supplement and perfection for the cigarette marketing system of China.