Cigarette makers also invested in the desires of current smokers. According to the Attitudes and Behaviors Related to Smoking Cessation survey, conducted by SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare, 53 percent of smokers are puffing non-regular cigarettes, hoping these light, low-tar and ultra-light varieties will satisfy their desire to smoke while doing less physical damage.Last year, R.J. Reynolds, which controls about one-quarter of the U.S. cigarette market, with its Winston, Camel, Salem, Doral, Monarch and Best brands, released the Eclipse reduced-smoke cigarette to select markets in Georgia, Nebraska and Tennessee, hoping to generate excitement for an as-yet untapped niche. The product, which took 10 years and about a billion dollars to develop, has not lived up to expectations, though, representatives said. Eclipse features a carbon tip, which produces less-lingering, lower-tar smoke, but consumers have found it difficult to light and puff despite instructions printed on the packaging. In addition, marketers have faced the difficulty of pitching the product without badmouthing its core commodity-regular cigarettes.

If retailers are feeling the heat from tobacco companies, the reasons are pretty clear. Trying to compensate for huge MSA-dictated payments and a steady decline in cigarette consumption--analysts are projecting another 2% drop in 2001--manufacturers have introduced five price hikes in the last two years. As a result, average wholesale prices are up 74% in the $50 billion U.S. tobacco industry. Each price increase opened the door a little wider for discount cigarette brands, whose market share crept up to 3.7% last year, according to the Maxwell Report.With the renewed pricing pressures, even category leader Marlboro is resorting to repeated discounts. "Marlboro never used to be on a reduced price for two months in a row," said one Midwest wholesaler." Now it''s on two months, off one, on two months and off ... I don''t think that hurts the strength of the brand because they can''t advertise like they could before, and the only way to grab market share is with price." Yet there''s an even more intense battle taking place: on the shelves. In the aftermath of the MSA, Philip Morris and RJR have increased cash rewards to retailers who give top shelf placement and prominent signage to their brands. Contracts often include extra "buydowns," cash manufacturers pay retailers for passing reduced prices on to consumers.

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