Japan Tobacco Announces Rebranding of Mild Seven to Mevius

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 08/09/2012

Japan Tobacco Inc. is to change the name of its Mild Seven brand, the best selling cigarette in Japan and one of the JT Group's Global Flagship Brands, to Mevius. At the same time, the brand is being given a new, globally-unified design. 'With active investment to strengthen brand equity and a greater presence around the world, Mevius is aiming to become the number one global premium brand,' JT said in a note posted on its website. The company plans to roll out the new design across Japan during November while retaining the Mild Seven name, and then launch the Mevius brand name during February 2013. ‘In markets where the new package design has been introduced, the design already enjoys consumer popularity,’ the note said. 'The company plans geographic expansion after completing introductions of the new brand in existing international markets over the next 12 months. Mild Seven has been the best selling brand in Japan since 1978, a year after it was launched and it is said to be popular in markets including Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia and Russia. It is unusual for a company to change the name of a successful brand name but JT was left in a difficult position when names and descriptors such as 'mild' and 'light' were disallowed in many important markets around the world, starting, in 2003, with Brazil and the EU. In explaining the new name, JT said that Mevius retained the 'M' and 'S' from Mild Seven, signifying a sense of evolution and the bond between the brand and its consumers. The new design is said to retain Mild Seven’s icon and blue color, which enjoyed consumer popularity, while using an upward curve to show the brand's commitment to continuously evolve with consumer preferences. The new pack is said to have a special texture that enhances its tactile sophistication and reflects its premium positioning. "The JT Group targets sustainable profit growth in the mid to long term, based on the '4S' management principle of satisfying and fulfilling our responsibilities towards consumers, shareholders, employees and wider society," said JT president and CEO, Mitsuomi Koizumi in commenting on the name and design change. "Tobacco is our core business and profit growth engine. By prioritizing investment in this business for quality top line growth and stronger business sustainability, we are targeting our tobacco business to grow EBITDA by mid to high single digits per year over the medium to long term. To achieve this, we plan to further strengthen the equity of our brands by focusing on our core brands, grow or maintain share in existing key markets, broaden the geographical base and develop emerging product categories. "Against this backdrop, Mevius is moving forward with a new name across the world, a unified global design and an expanded product portfolio in order to command a greater international presence by enhancing brand equity, aiming to become the number one global premium brand." Enditem