Autograph Filter Offers Unique Signature

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 03/28/2012

The Autograph filter, which has been newly launched by Filtrona Filter Products, has a cellulose acetate extruded thread that can be shaped to conform to detailed designs and produced in any color. It is currently available in standard filter circumference, but slim and super slim versions are to follow. At up to 2.5 mm in diameter, the thread of the Autograph - part of Filtrona's Icon range of filters - is said to be the largest diameter colored filter thread available on the market. Meanwhile, the company says that the global market for cigarettes incorporating Icon-range filters has grown at 2.4 per cent during the past five years, with growth being especially strong in markets where premium products are used as indicators of social status, such as Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, China and countries of southern Asia. This growth, Filtrona said, demonstrated a clear consumer demand for premium products with visual differentiation and had been a driving factor in the development of the Autograph filter. "With the increase in dark markets, the Autograph filter enables cigarette manufacturers to create a unique signature for their brands and communicate the brand values of premium products directly to consumers," said Chris Franklin, Innovation and New Business Development Director. "In addition the Autograph filter can be combined into a multi-segment filter to include flavour, activated carbon or a recess, and the shaped, coloured thread can then be used to communicate a particular brand's performance or taste characteristics." Enditem