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Japan Tobacco Inc (JT) announced Wednesday that Mild Seven, one of its global flagship brands, will have a new brand name, Mevius, and a globally unified design. JT said that with active investment to strengthen brand equity and a greater presence around the world, Mevius is aiming to become the number one global premium brand.
Mild Seven, known for its smooth cigarettes with clean finish, has been the best selling brand in Japan since 1978, a year after it was launched. JT plans to roll out the new name and design across Japan, introducing the globally unified design in November while retaining the Mild Seven name, followed by the launch of the Mevius brand name in February 2013.
Internationally, Mild Seven enjoys consumer popularity in markets including Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia and Russia. In markets where the new package design has been introduced, the design already enjoys consumer popularity. JT said it plans geographic expansion after completing introductions of the new brand in existing international markets over the next 12 months.
JT said Mevius, the new brand name, retains the "M" and "S" from Mild Seven, signifying a sense of evolution and the bond between the brand and its consumers, with the addition of "E" and "V", and "I" and "U", respectively. The new name has been developed to demonstrate the commitment of the brand to remain the global premium brand by retaining Mild Seven’s brand equity and to continuously evolve together with consumers across the world.
© Japan Today
15 Comments
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sensei258
No matter how they are packaged or marketed, cigarettes are deadly. Cancer, COPD, and a host of other conditions are inevitable, yet people still smoke.
CrazyJoe
Nicotine is a drug. Why use it as a crutch?
Nessie
Nice editorializing.
What's the real reason? Because this sounds like doublespeak.
Stephen Knight
Someone could make a fortune here starting a professional naming/branding business.
Internationally, the move is toward eliminating words such as light and mild from cigarette brands for the impression they give of less harm to the smoker. I think that's what drove this re-branding, since Japan is no longer a major market for the company.
my2sense
no joke... I have been referring to some Japanese guys as 'Mild Seven' for years... crazy.
nath
Bad name. I always liked the name Mild Seven. They are very popular here in Korea.
ExportExpert
Why give these Killers any commercial space at all, if JT had any backbone they wouldnt even carry this story giving Tobacco companies free advertising should be a crime.
JoshuYaki
I thought that Japanese people valued the number 7? Strange...
Wakarimasen
JT said Mevius, the new brand name, retains the “M” and “S” from Mild Seven, signifying a sense of evolution and the bond between the brand and its consumers, with the addition of “E” and “V”, and “I” and “U”, respectively. The new name has been developed to demonstrate the commitment of the brand to remain the global premium brand by retaining Mild Seven’s brand equity and to continuously evolve together with consumers across the world.
This makes no sense. translation must be a bit off.
The smokes themselves are ok, if a bit Mild.
timtak
I think that they are cashing in on the popularity of the most popular recent Ultraman series hero, "Ultraman Mebius," which in Japanese is pronounced the same way. Tsubaraya productions should be getting a reward.
marcelloz
Stephen is right, misleading words like 'mild', 'light' etc are now banned from cigarette branding in many counties, as far as I know. JT feeling the pressure or making preemptive moves.
Timtak, wow. What a devious way to attract young smokers. Kids as young as 1y/o will now want to smoke JT's cancer sticks because their hero has the same name.
That's disgusting. JT execs will rot in hell!
Tom Webb
Why on earth is JT changing a winning brand? Don't you all remember the fix that Coke got into when they tried to change their winning drink and had to bring it back as "classic"? Mild Seven is known by foreigners already. Mess around with a winner and you will come out a loser.
sastroboy
so no more mildo seveno..?
Tomasz Stasinski
Now all they need is a better packaging, maybe those packs with pictures like in Australia.
Stephen Clarke
Well i don't know there re-branding as a company thats up to them. All I know is there the best I have had, not sure if you can get them in the UK or not i live in Thailand and if there ever was a good excuse TO NOT give up., these are it