Spread out across six time zones, American adult smokers are a very diverse group. And while ITG Brands ranks just third in cigarette market share terms, the US is Imperial’s largest and most important market.

Our versatile product portfolio in the US includes the iconic Winston cigarette and Backwoods mass market cigar brands as well as the vaping brand blu.

To drive growth, we devote care and resource to understanding the American adult smoker, and what drives their behaviours. But how can we be successful in this, when we know the American consumer cannot be described by a single profile?

For us, that goes back to our challenger business mentality – turning our relatively small size into a strength. The reality is that at our size, we cannot be everything to every consumer. But we can work tirelessly to deliver the best product offerings possible. And we have the advantage of staying relatively nimble, able to respond quickly to changing consumer demands and preferences.

In fact, we’ve adjusted our entire business to make sure we always start with the consumer. That means placing emphasis on consumer insights and data to inform our marketing approach and investment.

For me, it also means building an organization of people that reflect the diversity of our consumer base. All our people are encouraged and empowered – no matter what area of the business they work in – to know and respect the consumer. Because without this understanding we cannot succeed in our endeavour to be a challenger business.

*This article is an edited version of Kim's presentation to the Global Tobacco & Nicotine Forum (GTNF) in 2022.

Our US cigarette brands are produced at ITG Brands' manufacturing site in Greensboro.