Imperial Tobacco launches £5m ad blitz

Imperial Tobacco is to spend more than £5m on a final press and poster blitz in the run-up to the blanket tobacco advertising ban on December 10.

The company will run eight ad campaigns to support its range of cigarettes and roll-your-own products.

A spokesman says: “We are carrying out a blitz across all our brands. We are not necessarily spending any more on individual brands, but the fact that the campaigns will be running at the same time means the overall spend for this time period will be higher.

“We want to make sure all of our brands receive some exposure before the ban comes in.”

Imperial’s recently launched low-price brand Richmond and leading mid-price brand Lambert & Butler will be supported by press and poster ads, as will Superkings, Embassy and Regal.

Drum tobacco and Rizla rolling papers will be advertised in high-profile lifestyle magazines.

Market-leading roll-your-own brand Golden Virginia’s “pub signs” poster campaign will continue until the end of this month.

The Tobacco Manufacturers Association will learn this week whether its legal challenge to the Government’s decision to bring forward the date of the ban has succeeded.