The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Big tobacco pushes into e-cigs Posted: 02 Oct 2013 05:27 AM PDT The former Playboy centrefold strikes a sultry pose in a bar, the sleek black cigarette in her hand and a handsome dude at her side. "I love being single. But here's what I don't love: a kiss that tastes like an ashtray. Blecch," she says. "Now that I've switched to blu, I feel better about myself. And I feel free to have one almost anywhere." Sex and freedom: the slick advertisement for Lorillard's blu eCigs, starring TV personality Jenny McCarthy, shows how Big Tobacco is pushing into electronic cigarettes. They are seeking to take command of a market they fear could one day supplant traditional tobacco. In just the past few months British American Tobacco, Lorillard, Reynolds American, Altria and others have launched e-cigarettes, with a message that they can be smoked or "vaped" anywhere that regular cigarettes are banned or disdained. "We see huge potential for this market, both domestically and globally," said Richard Smith, spokesman for Reynolds American, parent of tobacco powerhouse RJ Reynolds and producer of the VUSE e-cigarette, which it recently introduced in Colorado to test the market. "Adult tobacco consumers are making it known that they want convenient tobacco products they can use in a variety of settings, giving them the freedom to enjoy tobacco on their own terms," he said. Lorillard's blu – a brand it bought for US$135 million in April – has stolen a march in the US market on competitors. Altria, parent of Philip Morris, has test-launched its MarkTen in Indiana, and BAT kicked off the Vype across Britain in July. Meanwhile NJOY, an independent with Silicon Valley and Hollywood startup capital, has also carved out significant market space. Bonnie Herzog, an industry specialist at Wells Fargo Securities, forecasts US$2 billion in e-cigarette sales in the United States by the end of this year – 2% of the tobacco market – and US$10 billion by 2017. "Consumption of e-cigs could surpass consumption of traditional cigs within the next decade," she said. Companies say the recognition level of e-cigarettes is already widespread in the United States and Europe. Some 37% of smokers in Europe have sampled them. But the take-up rate is still low, and the big tobacco firms say their challenge is to figure out why. "The experience is quite different than a cigarette," said Des Naughton, managing director of Nicoventures, the BAT subsidiary behind Vype. "The product and how it performs is quite different from a cigarette. Obviously there are people who try it and find it's not for them." The products available are diverse: disposable and rechargeable, some designed to look like old-fashioned cigarettes and some striving to be different. Some stick to traditional tobacco flavours while others, like blu, explore tastes like those in an ice cream parlour: Cherry Crush, Java Jolt or Pina Colada. "The opportunity remains for companies like ourselves... to understand the potential, the technology involved, and improve what's on offer," said Naughton. "You can smoke at a basketball game" Marketing too is still in infancy. NJOY, in a pioneering television ad during the hugely watched Super Bowl championship in February, emphasised "the look, feel and flavour of the real thing." Naughton says the focus for BAT is still in enlightening consumers, persuading them to "give it a go". Blu however has gone the lifestyle route, long a sure winner for cigarettes, emphasising freedom and fun with McCarthy and actor Stephen Dorff. "With blu, you can smoke at a basketball game when you want to," Dorff says in a TV spot. "We're all adults here. It's time we take our freedom back." The big companies are expected to squeeze aside scores of small e-cigarette pioneers as they push into the market. "There are great advantages to scale in this industry," said blu's president Jim Raporte. "Innovation will be a key factor in the success of the players within this space." The big challenge is regulation. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is expected to propose to regulate e-cigarettes like tobacco in the coming weeks. European regulators are trying to determine whether to control them like pharmaceuticals, regular cigarettes, or other products. Regulation could limit distribution, sales and advertising. For instance, tobacco ads have been banned from US television since 1971, but so far e-cigarettes can advertise. Naughton backs regulating them like over-the-counter drugs. But he warned that if e-cigarettes face tight controls on testing and review, it could stifle quick product innovation and development. Reynolds' Smith said they believe the FDA will regulate e-cigarettes "based on sound science". Since Reynolds' other products compete under strict regulation, he added: "We have no reason to believe that (VUSE) cannot do the same." – AFP, October 2, 2013. |
| Cameras capture Sumatran rhino in Indonesian Borneo Posted: 02 Oct 2013 05:06 AM PDT Sixteen camera traps – remote-controlled cameras with motion sensors frequently used in ecological research – filmed the rhino walking through the forest and wallowing in mud in Kutai Barat, East Kalimantan province. The footage, filmed on June 23, June 30 and August 3, is believed to show different rhinos although the WWF said confirmation of this will require further study. There were once Sumatran rhinos all over Borneo but their numbers have dwindled dramatically and they were thought to now exist only on the Malaysian part of the island. But the research disclosed today, a joint effort between the WWF and authorities in Kutai Barat, shows that the animal is still present on the Indonesian side of Borneo. "This physical evidence is very important, as it forms the basis to develop and implement more comprehensive conservation efforts for the Indonesian rhinoceros," said Indonesian Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan. "This finding represents the hard work of many parties, and will hopefully contribute to achieving Indonesia's target of 3% per year rhino population growth." He urged officials and environmentalists to try and come up with a scientific estimate of the remaining Sumatran rhino population in Indonesian Borneo. The research was unveiled at the start of an international meeting on efforts to protect rhinos in Bandar Lampung on Indonesia's western island of Sumatra, with governments from Bhutan, Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Nepal represented. There are estimated to be fewer than 275 Sumatran rhinos remaining in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There are only a few substantial populations still in existence, most of them on Sumatra. Poaching is considered the main reason for the dramatic decline in numbers, with the rhino's horn and some of its other body parts considered highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine. – AFP, October 2, 2013. |
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