Something New From An Old Flame

Source from:  Marketing Week 07/29/2011

Faced with a growing crackdown on smoking, the iconic lighter brand is using its rugged, adventurous but trusted characteristics to extend its product lines. The Zippo lighter has a CV to rival the most seasoned Hollywood actor. It has starred in more than 1200 TV shows, theatre performances and films including Die Hard, Indiana Jones and last year's release Buried. The brand's global marketing director David Warfel insists Zippo has no paid-for product placement deals but has achieved fame through its iconic status built up over a 79-year history and the lighter's ability to perform on cue. Yet this big screen success is bittersweet. While the company has garnered money-can't-buy exposure, each starring role continues to reinforce the brand as revolving around lighters. This conflicts with Warfel's task since he joined Zippo three years ago, which has been to extend the brand's life beyond a single product. He is aiming to show global shoppers that the name can stand for more. "The motivation for our diversification is the pressure on the tobacco industry and by association the effects on our business," explains Warfel. Despite brimming over with all-American optimism, Warfel is realistic about the implications of the brand's association with smoking and the tobacco industry. As smoking becomes more of a taboo activity around the world, with countries implementing bans in public places, Zippo cannot afford to rely on its lighter alone. "The crackdown on smoking is a global phenomenon and has forced us to support the position that the product is more than a tobacco accessory," he acknowledges. "There is no doubt that our most common application is to light a tobacco product," he admits."But we have a valuable, highly recognised, positively perceived global brand. It is logical for us to extend into categories that are closely related to heat and flame but to also leverage it among other lifestyle products." Those products include a range designed to light candles and camping fires, as well as personal handwarmers, pens, men's and women's bags, and, believe it or not, a men's fragrance. The scent, says Warfel, is selling so well in Italy that demand has outweighed supply - despite initial scepticism from the media. It plays on the brand's "rugged, masculine" qualities and sits alongside Zippo men's accessories such as pens, wallets and small luggage. Another equally seemingly tenuous brand link is Zippo's line of women's handbags, distributed solely in Italy. Warfel claims the brand, in a different typeface to the Zippo master brand, resonates in the Italian market. Enditem