Nick Hales, global CEO of Zimbabwe-based Savanna Tobacco, says the process of upgrading the company’s cigarette brands is in line with changing consumer demands due to improving income levels on the continent.
“This requires significant investment and a total relook at channel strategies, routes to market and market profiles,” he says. “Unfortunately in Africa, ‘West is best’. So migrating local homegrown brands to premium requires a lot more than embracing international brands and adding them to your portfolio.”
Hales says the new packaging across its Pacific range moves Savanna Tobacco products upmarket to speak to a more aspirational, achievement-driven consumer. “We have created packaging that reflects the quality and value of the product inside, so that the total package is now worldclass, inside and out.”
The new packaging for Savanna’s iconic Pacific brand is backed by a relaunch with a new positioning line: ‘A Taste of Greatness’; allied with a brand new pack design for all its variants, including the 20, 10 and the innovative two-packs, says Hales.
“Our new pack features a matt finish, embossed features and a raised tactile ink finish to create the market’s most advanced packaging, which compares favourably with anything in the world,” he says.
“All in all, we have invested over $500,000 in media and market support for this re-brand, which will be integrated with our exciting sponsorship and engagement programme, ‘Fired-Up nePacific’, which will be travelling all over the country and will engage over 50 000 people.”
Importantly for the market, the rebrand has included a price adjustment, which Hales says has resulted in industry-leading margins for every channel level. “The increased margins for the retail and vendor channels make it the most profitable cigarette brand on the market whilst still trading lower than the retail price of its main competitor,” he says.
Savanna Tobacco has been at the forefront of a number of channel innovations in the past few years, including its formalisation of over 1200 informal traders, the launch of its flow-wrap packaging allowing for the sale of packs of two, five and 10 cigarettes, the launch of vendor kiosks for micro-entrepreneurs, and the award-winning ‘Pacific Chatsva’ consumer engagement activities across Zimbabwe.
