What’s your brand of smoke up to?

Savvy brand marketeers constantly do reality checks on the health of their brands ,asking two basic questions: “Is my brand the forerunner of change? Is my brand the index of forward-thinking?” In the tobacco scenario in India, one brand qualifies for an emphatic ”Yes” to both these searching questions :Classic. As a follower of brands and a smoker as well, I find Classic to be a class act, not only in understanding but fulfilling the emerging needs of consumers. The worth of a brand is surely measurable by the way it makes the cash register ring. But it rings the loudest only when it takes the lead in the category, like Classic does, pre-empting the changing taste of the consumers. Besides introducing me to international variants like milds, ultra milds and later slims,it has,over the years , bowled me over with one delightful surprise after another.Offering innovative flavours , each a first of its kind. Kafe Ato, with coffee flavour, Riviera Whiff with a twist of orange, Taste Treasures, blended with tea … I loved them all. This unconventional take on cigarettes, makes Classic so international and edgy. In fact sitting in the psychedelic but Oriental Budha Bar in Paris, listening to techno -fused sufi chants, I put my Classic Kafeato pack on the table, lit one cigarette and floated a lazy, meandering smoke ring into the subterranean lounge while the herd smoked sisha. Jim Patterson an NY lawyer, (whom Ididn’t know from Adam then and now my buddy), kept throwing ill-disguised glances of interest at my pack. Finally he couldn’t resist it any more. Dropping his sisha, he sauntered over and asked for a cigarette. I nodded. Lighting up , Jim nodded back approvingly, toying with the pack. “Keep the pack,” I said, smiling indulgently. My cool quotient was soaring.Classic had just made an international statement, thanks to me! And I am not complaining.