British American Tobacco to focus on three global new category brands to further accelerate their growth

•  Simplifying New Category product portfolio, creating fewer, stronger and more trusted international brands that will compete on the global stage
•  Vapour products will be branded VUSE; modern oral products will be branded VELO; and tobacco heating products will continue to be branded glo
•  The first use of VUSE brand outside US will be on McLaren F1 race car at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend

British American Tobacco (BAT) has today announced it is creating three global brands for its New Category product portfolio: VUSE for vapour products; VELO for modern oral products and glo for tobacco heating products to further accelerate the growth of their New Category business.

BAT has long been focused on offering adult consumers a range of satisfying and enjoyable products with reduced-risk potential in comparison to cigarettes. Since launching its first e-cigarette in the UK in 2013, BAT has made impressive progress, now offering an unrivalled range of innovative and exciting products in more than 40 countries around the world. Over that period BAT has invested over $4bn in the development, manufacture and commercialisation of these products.

BAT will now focus its marketing resources and investment on developing three strong, trusted international brands that will compete on the global stage. This announcement marks the beginning of an ambitious brand migration and consolidation programme worldwide towards these three priority brands.

Beyond the clear focus for marketing investment around the world, this move will simplify the consumer experience around the world, helping easier navigation of BAT’s product portfolio, whilst portfolio focus will drive greater awareness and resonance amongst adult consumers.

Commenting on the brand consolidation, British American Tobacco’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kingsley Wheaton, said: “We understand global brands are important for our worldwide consumers - brands that they can trust, recognise and buy wherever they are in the world. We want to lead the industry across all our New Category products and believe the time is now right to simplify our brand portfolio, creating three strong, recognisable and trusted global brands. For these new consumer categories, both quality and trust are vital and this step further supports BAT’s leading ambition in the industry.

“We are at a very exciting stage of our New Category journey. Central to our leading role is continuing to develop remarkable products and trusted brands, whilst driving global awareness of them. The move to VUSE, VELO and glo is yet another exciting milestone in our New Category journey. We remain committed to accelerating the transformation of our industry and the growth of our brands.”

BAT will leverage its global partnership with McLaren to support this brand consolidation activity. The first use of the VUSE vapour brand outside of the US will be this weekend when the new VUSE logo will be proudly featured on the McLaren Formula One race car at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. This is to mark the launch of VUSE across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in early 2020 – the first country outside of the US which will have the VUSE vapour products available for consumers.

Mr Wheaton concluded: “I am delighted that we’re celebrating the upcoming launch of our new global vapour brand, VUSE, in the UAE this weekend. Our fantastic partnership with McLaren continues to provide us with a truly global platform with which to accelerate our ambition with our New Categories business, which is focused on creating a better tomorrow for our consumers, shareholders, society and employees.”