Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Electronic Cigarettes with Other Tobacco Products

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis:  Awareness of electronic cigarettes is high in the United States, and e-cigarette use has steadily grown since 2012. High e-cigarette awareness may be partly explained by an increased exposure to e-cigarette advertising. Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTC), which includes direct mail and email, is a common tactic used by tobacco companies to promote cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, and may be a channel to promote e-cigarettes. This advertising strategy allows for the delivery of tailored messaging based on demographics and smoking history, and is a major distribution channel for promotions, such as coupons. DTC advertising has also been used to introduce new products to consumers. Currently, there is no published data available on DTC advertising of e-cigarettes. The aims of this study are to: (1) analyze e-cigarette direct mail and email advertisements by brand, (2) summarize data on the number of unique ads, spend, and mail volume, and (3) investigate the presence of other tobacco products and promotions in ads that feature e-cigarettes.

Methods:  Mintel Comperemedia, a full-service advertising firm that tracks DTC advertising, was used to acquire all direct mail and email advertising for e-cigarette brands in the US over a three year period from January 2013 to December 2015. The advertisement and associated meta-data on brand, spend ($), and mail volume were summarized. Data on spend and mail volume were available for direct mail ads only. Promotions for e-cigarettes and other tobacco products were examined.

Results:  Over the study period, 332 unique advertisements were identified and consisted of 202 direct mail ads and 130 email ads. The following brands were featured in 93% of the total ads:  Vuse (35%), MarkTen (28%), GreenSmoke (15%), blu (10%), e-Swisher (3%), and Juul (2%). Spending on direct mail advertising totaled $34.7 million over the three year period, with ads that featured MarkTen ($20.1 million) and Vuse ($11.5 million) encompassing 91% of total expenditures. Mail volume for direct mail was also highest for ads that featured MarkTen (39.4 million) and Vuse (23.0 million).  A total of 65% of all ads contained a promotional offer for e-cigarettes. A total of 92 direct mail ads (46%) contained another tobacco product. Among advertisements that featured other tobacco products, 74% featured a coupon for another tobacco product. Other tobacco products were featured in 56 Vuse ads (49%) and 11 e-Swisher ads (100%) and include products such as Camel cigarettes, Camel snus, Grizzly snuff, and Swisher Sweets cigarillos. No email advertisements featured other tobacco products.

Conclusions:  The results suggest that MarkTen and Vuse are the primary e-cigarette brands using direct mail and email to reach consumers from 2013 through the end of 2015. Promotions for other tobacco products were prevalent in ads that featured Vuse and e-Swisher.

Implications for research and/or practice:  Promotional offers provide significant cost savings and increase accessibility to tobacco products. Surveillance of e-cigarette advertising media channels, including direct mail and email, is needed in order to inform FDA regulation of e-cigarettes.