Marlboro is undoubtedly the most resounding name among many brands in the cigarette kingdom. Despite the surging tide of tobacco control in the world today, Marlboro still ranks 9th in the list of the top 1 brands in the world in 23, which was jointly launched by Business Week of the United States and Interbrand of new york, with a brand value of $22.18 billion. This paper attempts to analyze the marketing road of Marlboro brand from the perspective of communication and promotion, which is not comprehensive, hoping to have a glimpse of the leopard.

1. Mild as May

Philip Morris, the world's largest tobacco company headquartered in new york, USA, originated in Britain. In 1847, Mr Philip Morris founded a tobacco company in England, and his business was very prosperous. In 192, Mr Philip Morris's successor opened an agency in new york to sell a series of brands of cigarettes produced by the company, including Marlboro cigarettes. It is said that Marlboro's brand name comes from the street name "Marlborough" where the company's London factory is located. In 198, Marlboro brand was registered in the United States. In 1919, Philip Morris was formally established in the United States.

American young people in the 192s were called the "lost generation" because after the impact of World War I, many young people thought they were traumatized by the war, and they insisted that only the stimulation of jazz and cigarettes could dilute this trauma. Fashionable girls believe in carpe diem, and they pay attention to clothing and makeup, which makes them feel a little drunk. The madness and decadence of social atmosphere have led to a sharp increase in the number of female smokers. In this context, in 1924, Philip Morris Company positioned Marlboro brand as a lady cigarette and promoted it to the public. In order to become a big winner in women's cigarettes, Philip Morris has done a lot of work: first, it echoes the femininity of female smokers and defines the advertising language as "gentle as May" to win the favor of female smokers for Marlboro; Second, because female smokers often complained that white cigarette holders were stained with their red lipstick, it was very indecent. Philip Morris then dyed Marlboro's cigarette holder red, hoping that female smokers would be moved by this meticulous care, thus opening up sales; Thirdly, the Marlboro brand name is disassembled into "Men Always Remember Ladies Because of Romance Only", so that Marlboro cigarettes can become female smokers' confidantes.

However, contrary to expectations, Marlboro remained unknown from 1924 to the 195s. Although the advertising positioning of women's cigarettes highlights Marlboro's brand personality and puts forward a preference for a certain type of consumers, it also sets obstacles for its future development, which makes it difficult to expand its consumer range. Specifically, there are three reasons: First, women's hobby of cigarettes is generally limited to pre-marriage, because pregnant women generally stop smoking and may quit smoking after giving birth. As a special commodity, cigarettes must form a solid consumer group. The more times they repeat consumption, the greater the sales income that the consumer group brings to manufacturers. Second, because of their love of beauty, women are often worried that excessive smoking will make their teeth yellow and their complexion will be affected. They are much more temperate than male smokers when smoking, so there are fewer "addicts". Third, the slogan "Mild as May" is so meaty that the majority of male smokers are discouraged from it.

2. Where there are men, there are Marlboros

Brand image is consumers' perceptual cognition of the brand, a reflection of the brand status quo in consumers' minds and a reflection of brand assets. When brand image is not conducive to sales growth and has a negative impact on consumers' minds, it is imperative to change brand positioning and update brand image. Consistent brand positioning will bring cumulative effects to the brand, but if a brand positioning can't adapt to the times or the market, it should be adjusted accordingly.

The failure of Marlboro's target market for women did not frustrate the leaders of Philip Morris. They rallied and entrusted Leo Burnett advertising company to make communication planning for Marlboro. Leo Boehner suggested that Philip Morris wash away the lead for Marlboro brand and give it a manly image. In the choice of advertising image spokesperson-"Marlboro Man", Fei Mo used climbers, coachmen, divers and lumberjacks, but finally focused his ideal man image on the western cowboy with deep eyes, rough skin and boldness. The western cowboy in the advertisement was charming: his sleeves were rolled up high, his hairy arms were exposed, a smoky Marlboro cigarette was sandwiched between his fingers, and he was riding on his crotch. The western cowboy advertisement came out in 1954, which brought great wealth to Marlboro. In 1955, Marlboro won the tenth largest cigarette brand in the United States. In 1968, Marlboro's single brand market share jumped to the second place in the United States. In 1975, Marlboro took the title of American cigarette sales. In the mid-198s, Marlboro became the leading brand in the tobacco world, and this global dominance has continued to this day. Philip Morris invested tens of billions of dollars in advertising fees, and finally established the brand image of "Where there are men, there are Marlboros" in people's minds. The unrestrained and free cowboy in the west represents the indomitable manly spirit in pioneering the cause in the United States.

In p>1987, a survey of 1546 Marlboro cigarette lovers by Forbes magazine showed that what really fascinated smokers was not the slight product difference between Marlboro cigarettes and other brands of cigarettes, but the satisfaction and superiority brought by the masculinity of advertisers on Marlboro cigarettes.

Third, come on, join the Marlboro country

If the advertisements of Marlboro people emphasize the individual's "toughness, roughness and autonomy", then the advertisements of Marlboro country later focus on the life situation of Marlboro people. In the "Marlboro Country" with endless green grass, cowboys are free but not lonely. They roam freely, share sweet food, blazing bonfires, mellow cigarettes and deep friendship ... Marlboro Country is an idyllic and attractive world. Every advertisement of "Marlboro Country" will send a kind invitation to consumers: "Come on, join Marlboro Country!"

in the 2th century, the United States experienced great changes in industrialization and urbanization. People's workplaces moved from Yuan Ye to factories, and their living environment changed from rural areas to cities. The change of working place and living environment has made people lose their freedom and autonomy in the farming and animal husbandry era. What the idyllic "Marlboro country" wants to appease and fill is precisely this kind of helpless social mentality after losing freedom and autonomy. Light a cigarette and go to Marlboro Country to liberate the bound soul and body!

IV. Integration and Localization

There are two kinds of international marketing communication strategies of tobacco enterprises: integration and localization. Because of the universality of human nature and the global convergence, tobacco enterprises adopt a unified advertising form to spread their products around the world. Apart from the differences in advertising language in different countries, the theme, creativity, content, expression and media strategy of advertisements are the same, which is an integrated strategy. Too much emphasis on integration, advertising information is difficult for consumers in various regions to understand and accept, and even will be resisted. R. J. Reynolds, the second largest tobacco company in the United States, suffered a setback when it advertised camel cigarettes in Thailand. "For a camel, I'd like to walk a mile", the famous advertising saying of camel cigarettes, resounded all over the world. Its subtext is that smokers would rather walk to the soles of their shoes to buy camel cigarettes. The smokers on TV pictures, with their legs crossed on stilts, sit in front of a temple in Thailand, and the worn soles are particularly eye-catching. After the advertisement was broadcast in Thailand, the whole country was indignant and reprimanded. It turns out that Buddhism prevails in Thailand, and the temple is the supreme holy land. It is simply a big violation to cross your legs and show your feet in front of the temple. The theoretical basis of localization strategy is that different countries have their own unique cultures, and consumers can't fully understand and accept foreign cultures. However, overemphasizing localization will lead to the dispersion and loss of advertising resources, and it is not conducive to the establishment of a unified brand image. Therefore, it is necessary for tobacco enterprises to use both integration and localization strategies in international marketing communication activities. The combination of integration and localization can foster strengths and avoid weaknesses, complement each other's strengths and give full play to their advantages.

Marlboro's marketing success in the world is mainly due to the brand communication strategy combining integration and localization. In 197s, when Marlboro advertisement was broadcast in Hong Kong, Hong Kong people appreciated its pictures and music, but they didn't like the cowboy who rode nomadic horses all day. In the eyes of Hong Kong people, cowboys are low-skilled workers, which is emotionally out of place. In view of this situation, Marlboro quickly adjusted its communication strategy. As a result, what appeared on Hong Kong TV was no longer a cowboy tattooed in the western United States, but a young and free-spirited rancher with a successful career. In addition, Marlboro also put forward "I hope to give you a colorful and dynamic world" in the advertisement, with pictures of hills, Woods, beaches, beaches, riding horses and whipping, accompanied by beautiful music, showing people to create their own "Marlboro World" and a perfect inner world. The revised Marlboro advertisement not only did not break away from the unified personality and connotation of Marlboro brand, but also completely captured the hearts of Hong Kong consumers. At the end of 1993, Marlboro broadcasted a New Year's greeting advertisement in China, which changed the inspiring "Dangkou Zhi" into passionate and melodious gongs and drums, and changed the western cowboy who waded through mountains and rivers into a China man who beat gongs and drums with joy, the vast yellow land, brave men and deafening gongs and drums, which not only showed the distinctive Chinese national characteristics, but also made China people feel cordial and natural, and was also with Marlboro. The pioneering and unrestrained Marlboro spirit entered the hearts of consumers in China with the sound of gongs and drums.

v. sponsorship activities

in order to continuously consolidate and improve the position of Marlboro brand in the eyes of consumers, a common communication strategy of Philip Morris is sponsorship. Sponsorship is actually an advertising act. The principle of advertising tells us that sponsorship is a means to promote corporate image and spread product brands. On the surface, sponsorship means that the enterprise gives money. In fact, it means that the enterprise connects itself with the interests and needs of the whole society and closes the relationship between the enterprise and society through sponsorship, thus expanding the influence of the enterprise itself and the awareness of the product brand, which in turn promotes the product sales of the enterprise.

To sum up, the sponsorship activities of Marlboro can be roughly divided into three types: first, sports sponsorship. Sports events are always inseparable from the all-round and multi-angle tracking reports of many media, and some media even broadcast the events live all the time. Generally, after the game, the highlights of the game will be made into albums and played on TV stations repeatedly. This kind of frequent and lasting event communication can mostly successfully embed the information of sponsors in the hearts of target consumers, thus improving the popularity of product brands. Marlboro has been actively sponsoring various international sports events, especially F1 car race, which is one of the most influential and important sponsorship activities of Marlboro. In the public's mind, F1 racing is regarded as a free and unrestrained and fierce sport, and the image of F1 drivers conforms to the "manly image" demanded by Marlboro brand, and the spirit embodied by F1 racing is exactly the spirit of Marlboro cowboys. Marlboro's sponsorship of F1 racing can be said to be a model of the perfect combination of sponsorship activities and brand image. Marlboro has sponsored F1 racing for more than 3 years since it first entered F1 racing in 1972. During this period, the team sponsored by Marlboro won 127 victories and won 8 drivers' world championships. Second, entertainment sponsorship. In this regard, Marlboro is also "when it's time to shoot", because by sponsoring entertainment activities, it not only won the appreciation of the public, but also made Marlboro brand integrate into the activities and publicized the product brand without showing mountains and dew. For example, Marlboro sponsored $5 million for the Metropolitan Globe Opera Messenger to tour Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia. In bars and nightclubs, Marlboro often sponsors concerts in addition to normal promotional activities. In 1999, Philip Morris sponsored 117 concerts in the United States. Tickets for these concerts were a certain number of "Marlboro Miles" (buy a box of Marlboro cigarettes and get 5 "Mile Tickets"). For example, tickets for a Manhattan concert featuring the band "Afghan Wigs" cost about 2 "Mile Tickets". In addition, "Marlboro Mile Voucher" can also be exchanged for various commodities, such as CD players, belts, clothing and so on. Third, public welfare sponsorship. For this kind of sponsorship activities, Marlboro's decision-makers think: "We are a member of society. In addition to producing products, providing employment opportunities, paying taxes to the government and creating profits for shareholders, we also need to undertake corresponding social obligations and make more contributions to social welfare undertakings." Not to mention what Marlboro has done in public welfare sponsorship, these words alone are enough to add a halo to Marlboro's image and let the public pay more emotion for Marlboro brand.

VI. Giving away book covers

In order to enable young people who may become smokers when they grow up to know and remember cigarette brands including Marlboro, Philip Morris has creatively printed tens of millions of beautiful book covers and given them to many primary and secondary schools in the United States for free. This kind of book cover shows the heroic attitude of skiers in the form of cartoons, with bright colors, which is very attractive to primary and secondary school students. If you look closely at the cover of the book, you will find that the snowboard is like a lighted match, the clouds behind the athletes are like curling smoke, and the peaks at the lower end of the snow slope are like accumulated tobacco. The idea is very clever, and people simply don't feel that they are advertising cigarettes. In addition, the suggestive words such as "Please think twice" and "Don't smoke" in the notes not only make tobacco control people unable to grasp the handle, but also really give Philip Morris cigarette brands including Marlboro. In addition, linking cigarettes with skiing has also enhanced the healthy image of Marlboro brand.

VII. Adventure Activities

35% of the territory of Utah in the United States is desert and dry land. Philip Morris holds a desert adventure here every year to attract young smokers to love Marlboro brand. The company sent a Marlboro expedition, and most of its members were between the ages of 18 and 25. These members were selected from the young people who submitted annual expedition applications, all from countries with high smoking rates. Adventure is an important tool for Marlboro brand to promote overseas. Philip Morris enjoys it for two reasons: first, journalists' reports on adventure will further expand Marlboro brand's popularity in the world; Second, Philip Morris hopes to pass