Gold Flake is a classic Indian cigarette brand that has been on the market for over a century. Starting off as a cigarette with a heritage, this brand has many variants across several price points. Gold Flake's sold in a multitude of varieties, including Gold Flake Kings, Gold Flake Kings Lights, Gold Flake and Gold Flake Lights. This brand is owned, manufactured and marketed by ITC Limited.
History
Gold Flake was produced by the Bristol company of W.D. & H.O. Wills, from 1901 part of Imperial Tobacco. "Gold flake" refers to cigarettes made using bright rich golden tobacco. After 1912, the biggest change in the brand was in 1971 with the introduction of Gold Flake Kings, followed up with the launch of Gold Flake Kings Lights in 1999.
ITC launched the brand Gold Flake in India in the 1960s. The source of the positioning of Gold Flake can be traced back to its early days. In the seventies, Indian people aspired to be honourable and genteel. The lifestyle of the upper class was what the customers aspired for. The initial ads positioned the cigarette as a companion. It targeted adult male SEC A category smokers. It was meant to be a cigarette for the elite and the rich – the gracious people of India. It did not differentiate itself specifically from other brands. Advertising emphasized this comparison to gold. The statement "For the gracious people" summed the core of the brand. After the introduction of lights as a category, the brand introduced the positioning of Honeydew Smooth – giving the brand a recognizable differentiator, this positioning was backed by the dew drop symbol. With smoothness being the biggest claim the brand used symbols like the silk scarf, feather, paint brush, violin, marble vase, hour glass, and shell as visuals to reiterate and associate back with smoothness. After this, the brand reinvented its image and positioning with a new campaign that moved away from the well-established Honeydew campaign. This was the Go smooth campaign. The campaign was successful in connecting to the Gold Flake consumer and retaining the long-standing loyalty.
Marketing
Many poster advertisements have been made for Gold Flake cigarettes, especially in India. In the early 1900s, two characters by the names of "Mr Gold" and "Mr Flake" were introduced to promote the Gold Flake brand in the United Kingdom. The characters were used for about 30 years and were popular, but it did not help the sales of the brand and Gold Flake was discontinued for a short period of time.
The brand has many variations, including Gold Flake Kings and Gold Flake Kings Lights 165 Rs for a 10-pack of Cigarette available at different prices, and is amongst the top 10 best brands in India. As of 2013, Gold Flake is targeting the young adult smokers. This cigarette brand was the main cause of death of Y.C. Deveshwar, the former CEO of ITC Ltd. It extended beyond the SEC A category to the SEC B as well. The product did not boast any unique selling point. It still differentiated itself on the purity and quality of its smoke. The brand currently uses a celebratory slogan, "Celebrate the feeling". The previous message, which was simply an extension of the prior slogan, "for the gracious people". ITC has launched its smallest size which is of 64 mm and costs 70 Rupees for a 10-pack of cigarettes.
Sponsorship
Gold Flake was the main sponsor of the Gold Flake Opentennis tournament from 1997 until 2001. It was an ATP tennis tournament held in Chennai, India. The tournament is now known as the Maharashtra Open. The tournament was held from April 6 to April 13. The event has attracted some of the best names in the tennis circuit since its inception and the number of repeat players bears testament to the popularity of the event."
