January 29, 2009 - In January 2009, Philip Morris (PM) USA announced that it was discontinuing the Marlboro MST - moist smokeless tobacco test market in Atlanta, Georgia and the surrounding counties. PM USA continues to believe the Marlboro brand has an important role to play in the smokeless tobacco category. PM USA is evaluating potential strategies and options for the Marlboro brand in light of Altria’s acquisition of UST’s smokeless tobacco business. Michael Szymanczyk on dropping Marlboro MST - we’re more focused on the new brands that we’ve acquired (from UST), and anything that we do in terms of Marlboro will ultimately take advantage of what we’ve acquired here with UST in the smokeless area; at least as it relates to MST.
PM USA has been test marketing Marlboro Snus, a spit-free, smokeless tobacco pouch alternative designed especially for adult smokers, in Dallas, Texas and in Indianapolis, Indiana. Based on our consumer-driven insights and learnings from those test markets, PM USA has revamped the Marlboro Snus concept with new packaging, product enhancements and pricing. In December 2008, PM USA announced that it was replacing the existing Marlboro Snus products in the Dallas and Indianapolis test markets with the redesigned product, as well as expanding into a new test market in Arizona during the first quarter of 2009.
Michael Szymanczyk (Chairman, Chief Exec. Officer, Chairman of Exec. Committee, Chairman of Philip Morris USA Inc, Chief Exec. Officer of Philip Morris USA Inc and Pres of Philip Morris USA Inc - we thought Craig A. Johnson was President of PM USA, Inc.)- Relative to Marlboro Snus, you’re probably aware of the fact that we have really repositioned that product, reformulated it, and repackaged it. It’s really a whole new proposition. We’ve expanded the test market geography a bit out into the Southwest, as well as replaced—or in the process of replacing the existing product with the new product in the marketplace, and we continue to have optimism about Marlboro Snus as a product for the future. There’s no plan right now, relative to the UST Snus products (Skoal Dry now named Skoal snus). We’ve got to get involved in that and understand it better before we’ll make any decisions about it.
Altria Group, Inc. Q4 2008 Earnings Call Transcript, Seeking Alpha, 1/29/2009.
Marlboro Snus fact sheet.,
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