Altria’s companies provide adult consumers with leading brands in the tobacco and wine industries. The brand portfolios of Altria's tobacco operating companies include such well-known names as Marlboro, Copenhagen, Skoal and Black & Mild. Ste. Michelle Wine Estates produces and markets premium wines sold under 20 different labels including Chateau Ste. Michelle and Columbia Crest, and it exclusively distributes and markets Antinori, Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte and Villa Maria Estate products in the United States.
Our companies’ marketing practices are guided by our Mission goal to responsibly market tobacco and wine products to adult consumers. Responsibility is embedded in the culture of our brand marketing and sales organizations, and our companies’ marketing efforts are driven by three firm beliefs:
- we market to adults who use tobacco and drink wine;
- we do not want kids to use any tobacco or alcohol products; and
- we work to limit the reach of our marketing to unintended audiences.
Our companies participate in highly competitive industries where adult consumers are presented with numerous product choices at various price points. Our operating companies have chosen to focus on building their businesses by focusing primarily on premium brands. Therefore, their marketing activities are intended to connect the brands with their adult tobacco and wine consumer audiences by reinforcing their brands’ position in the marketplace and the value they offer. Our companies’ marketing efforts build brand equity through programs, promotions and products that are designed to exceed adult consumer expectations.
TOBACCO PRODUCTS
Philip Morris USA, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company and John Middleton primarily compete in their respective tobacco categories with premium brands such as Marlboro, Copenhagen, Skoal and Black & Mild. These companies design their marketing programs to enhance brand awareness, reward loyalty and drive competitive conversion to grow their market share.
Each tobacco company has practices in place to focus its marketing activities towards adult tobacco consumers while limiting reach to unintended audiences. These companies primarily connect with their adult tobacco consumers in two ways:
- One-to-one consumer communications, which include direct mail, email, consumer websites and consumer marketing activities, with age-verified adults 21 years of age or older; and
- At retail, where Altria’s tobacco companies present their brands to legal-aged tobacco consumers at the point of purchase. These companies offer programs to help merchandise their products and to help restrict underage access to tobacco products.
Each of our tobacco companies has programs in place designed to connect with their intended audience while helping to prevent underage access to tobacco products. For example:
- Age Verification: Our tobacco companies communicate one-to-one with adult tobacco consumers, and use procedures to verify a person is 21 years of age or older prior to sending any branded information or allowing access to their consumer websites.
To assist retailers, our tobacco companies support the We Card program that helps train and assist retail clerks to check IDs before selling tobacco products.
- In-store access: Our tobacco companies work with retailers to restrict product access. In addition to adherence to federal, state and local laws, their trade programs require retailers to merchandise tobacco products in a non-self-service manner and reduce potential underage access to tobacco products.
- Product placement requests: Our tobacco companies deny requests for permission to use or display their companies' brands in any movies or television shows or other public entertainment media.
Additionally, Altria’s tobacco companies’ marketing and sales practices are guided by our Standards for Underage Tobacco Prevention. The companies also support additional efforts to help reduce underage tobacco use, including training programs for sales and brand marketing employees about their roles and commitments in helping to reduce underage tobacco access and use.
Tobacco Settlement Agreements
In 1998, the nation’s leading cigarette manufacturers, including PM USA, entered into the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) with the attorneys general of 46 states, five U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. Prior to entering into the MSA, PM USA and several other cigarette companies already had reached similar agreements with Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi and Texas. These agreements are collectively referred to as the tobacco settlement agreements.
Additionally, USSTC is the only smokeless tobacco manufacturer to sign the Smokeless Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement with the attorneys general of 45 states.
These agreements fundamentally changed how tobacco products are advertised, marketed and sold in the United States. They include a variety of restrictions on the sale and marketing of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, including prohibiting:
- use of cartoons in advertising, promotion, packaging or labeling of tobacco products;
- most outdoor advertising, including billboards and stadium ads;
- most transit ads;
- paid product placement;
- brand name sponsored concerts; and
- distribution of merchandise with cigarette or smokeless tobacco brand names and logos.
Federal Regulation
The Food and Drug Administration has implemented restrictions on cigarette and smokeless tobacco marketing and advertising, including:
- prohibiting the sale of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in vending machines, self-service displays, or other impersonal modes of sales, except in very limited situations;
- prohibiting sampling of cigarettes;
- restricting sampling of smokeless tobacco;
- prohibiting cigarette and smokeless tobacco brand name sponsorships; and
- prohibiting non-tobacco gifts or other items in exchange for buying cigarettes or smokeless tobacco.
Read more about Federal Regulation of Tobacco.
Wine
Ste. Michelle Wine Estates promotes wine as compatible with an adult lifestyle balancing appreciation with moderation.
The company is a member of the Wine Institute and subscribes to the Institute’s Code of Advertising Standards. These standards encourage advertising which depicts responsible consumption of wine. The code includes restrictions against advertising that:
- depicts consumption with operating any motor vehicle;
- is in media with substantial underage appeal;
- suggests that wine consumption directly contributes to success or achievement;
- has particular appeal to individuals below the legal drinking age;
- is degrading or exploitative;
- is directed at pregnant women; and
- is associated with violence or abusive relationships.
Ste. Michelle also:
- works collaboratively with leading industry groups who are committed to the responsible promotion and sale of wine to adults, including the Washington Wine Commission, Washington Wine Institute, California Wine Institute and Wine America;
- complies with the California Wine Institute’s ”Wine Industry Code for Direct Shipping” to help ensure that direct shipments of wine to adult consumers comply with federal and state laws;
- educates its employees about age verification when serving adult consumers; and
- educates its employees about how to properly present and serve wine at the company’s facilities and sponsored events.
Age Verifying Online Wine Sales
Ste. Michelle believes that its products should only be enjoyed by adults of legal drinking age. In 2010, the company enhanced its age-verification process for direct-to-consumer sales on the company’s branded websites. Now, when adult consumers place an order on a Ste. Michelle winery online store, their profiles are checked against public-records databases to ensure that they are at least 21 years of age. If a consumer does not pass the age-verification check, he or she is contacted by a Ste. Michelle customer service representative who requires the customer to send a copy of a government-issued identification verifying that he or she is at least 21 years of age before any order can be processed.
