Marketing Approach

Mature white male retailer in white buttoned-down shirt and red apron looking at a shopper's driver’s id.
We're committed to marketing our products responsibly and are guided by Altria Group's Vision of Moving Beyond Smoking® and Code of Conduct.
We primarily compete in the U.S. smokeless tobacco category with brands such as Copenhagen®, Skoal®, Red Seal® and Husky®.

Consumer Communications

Our smoke-free products marketing efforts are focused on adult nicotine consumers 21+, while taking steps to limit reach to underage audiences. Our marketing programs are designed to enhance product brand awareness, affinity and loyalty to grow market share.

We require consumers to verify their age through an electronic age verification process and confirm that they are adult nicotine consumers 21+ prior to gaining access to our product-branded websites.

Our responsible marketing activities include:

  • One-to-one Communications: We use direct mail, SMS and email to support the launch of products, invite adult nicotine consumers 21+ to consumer engagement programs, announce product brand promotions and deliver coupons and other communications. We maintain a secure database of qualified adult nicotine consumers that are age-verified 21+ and have told us they would like to hear from us. A person may request to no longer receive communications from us at any time.
  • Consumer Websites: Our age-restricted brand websites enable adult nicotine consumers 21+ to interact with our product brands. We use these websites to build brand equity, deliver news and provide promotional support.
  • Consumer Marketing Activities: We offer consumer engagement programs that reinforce product brand equity, support the launch of new products and deliver promotions to adult nicotine consumers 21+.

Protecting our Consumers – Data Security

We collect personal information as part of our age-verified adult nicotine consumer database 21+ and we take protecting that data seriously. We continue to make investments in administrative, technical and physical safeguards intended to protect our information systems and data from cyber-threats, including human error and malicious acts. Our safeguards include employee training, testing and auditing protocols, backup systems and business continuity plans, maintenance of security policies and procedures, monitoring of networks and systems, and third-party risk.

Determining Traditional Media Placements

We market our smoke-free products in digital or print newspapers, magazines or periodicals to build awareness of our brands with adult nicotine consumers 21+. We're careful to pick those publications that meet the criteria of an “adult publication” under the Food and Drug Administration’s proposed definition. Under this standard, an adult publication is one:

  • whose readers younger than 21 years of age constitute 15 percent or less of the total readership as measured by competent and reliable survey evidence; and
  • that is read by fewer than two million persons younger than 21 years of age as measured by competent and reliable survey evidence.

 

If a publication doesn't meet these criteria, we won't advertise in it.

Trade Programs

We offer trade programs to retailers and wholesalers that help them responsibly manage the smokeless tobacco category. Our retail trade program is built on effective category management principles, including:

  • merchandising our products in an organized way;
  • having our brands in-stock and available;
  • having our most popular brands in the preferred positions;
  • clearly communicating price and promotional offers; and
  • deterring access by underage purchasers.
 

The program also includes several features that go beyond the Smokeless Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement and federal law to help prevent underage access to nicotine products, such as store clerk training and access prevention signage. In addition, we've developed rigorous compliance and training systems to govern retail marketing materials and limit the number of USSTC signs at retail. Learn More

Age Verification on Brand Communication & E-Commerce Websites

Consumers must be 21 years of age or older to purchase products on an owned e-commerce website or to access product-branded marketing materials. We require consumers to verify their age through an electronic age verification process and confirm that they are adult nicotine consumers 21+ prior to gaining access to our product-branded websites.

Electronic age-verification checks the personal information provided by an individual against public-records databases and third-party data sources to verify the personal information. If the records confirm the individual’s age, they gain access to the website. If not, access to the product-branded marketing sections of the website is denied.

To further prevent underage persons from accessing our product-branded websites, our websites are compatible with age-filtering software. Such software can be used to block access to websites considered unsuitable for children.

Marketing Restrictions

Smokeless tobacco marketing and sales are regulated at the federal, state and local level.

Learn more about USSTC's Marketing Restrictions.

Product Placement Requests

We deny requests for permission to use or display our companies' brands in any movies, television shows or video games.

E-Commerce and Paid Digital Advertising

We also carefully consider responsible marketing practices with our third-party e-commerce partnerships for our smoke-free nicotine products. As this partnership continues to evolve, we’re exploring how best to codify our responsibility expectations and monitor adherence to our contractual responsible marketing practices.

We leverage paid digital media advertising to reach adult nicotine consumers 21+. These advertisements are carefully monitored to ensure they are delivered to the intended audience.

To ensure this, we use the following strategies for paid digital media advertising:

  • We leverage first- and/or second-party consumer data to precisely match advertisements to recipients to assure they are only seen by the intended audience.
  • Advertisements are placed programmatically on select websites using an "allow list" methodology. The allow list approach, combined with content specific filtering, ensures advertisements are not placed on channels or sites whose content falls outside of our guidelines related to youth appeal and brand suitability.
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Social Media

Social media has become a powerful channel for companies to stay connected to their consumers. We’re committed to keeping our adult nicotine consumers 21+ at the center of everything we do. As social media continues to shift how people communicate across the world and communications channels evolve, we’ll consider the implications for how we responsibly engage with our adult dippers. As always, we’ll be guided by our current marketing practices, including taking steps designed to limit reach to underage audiences.