Rothmans launches its first UK mass-market cigar brand

Rothmans International has launched its first mass-market cigar brand in the UK.

The brand, Lincoln, will be launched in three cigar sizes – miniature, panatella and half corona. Lincoln has been created uniquely for the UK.

Chris Lynch, Rothmans general manager international tobacco products, says: “Usually cigars are launched in just one size and then brand extensions are added later but with the uncertainty over the future of tobacco advertising we don’t have five to ten years to develop the brand.”

The miniature is being pitched as a rival to Café Crème and Hamlet, the panatellas against Hamlet and the half coronas against Henri Wintermans.

The advertising campaign has been created by Tequila Option One. The ads will run in press, outdoor and radio. Media buying is through Rothmans’ roster agency TMD Carat.

Rothmans has a raft of niche cigar brands in this country, including Dunhill, but altogether they account for only 0.2 per cent of volume market share for cigars in the UK.

The marketing budget for Lincoln is 4m, spread to the end of Rothmans’ financial year in March.