Karelia buoyed by surging performance of Omé Superslims range : Moodie Davitt Report

The Omé Superslims premium cigarette range has been one of Karelia’s most spectacular
success stories

Karelia Tobacco Company has reported a spectacular performance for its Omé Superslims premium cigarette range in domestic and duty free markets across the world, with the French domestic market proving a stand-out.

Targeted at female smokers, the cigarettes were launched in April 2009 and are now available in four versions: Omé (6mg) and Omé Yellow (3mg), Omé White (1mg) and Omé Menthol (4mg), each with a superior American blend.

They are packaged in a compact lipstick-style box format, each containing 20 cigarettes, fitting easily into a handbag or pocket.

Omé cigarettes are sold on 38 international markets, including duty free and domestic locations worldwide. In duty free, the range achieved an estimated +31% growth in 2012 compared with the prior year.

Source: Karelia Tobacco Company

Duty free operators carrying the brand include Hellenic Duty Free Shops in its Greek home market, as well as World Duty Free Group, Qatar Duty Free, Kuwait Airport Duty Free, Sunrise Duty Free, Setur Duty Free and Beirut Duty Free.

The Omé range has forged ahead in the French domestic market, where an estimated 34.9 million sticks were sold in 2012, according to the company.

Source: Karelia Tobacco Company

Karelia puts Omé’s international success down to a number of factors, including its “stylish appearance” and the sales support it has given the new brand.

The extensive support initiatives have included outdoor poster advertising, illuminated sign advertisements and trade material, such as branded tent cards, leaflets, magazine ads, displays and carrier bags. In travel retail, the company’s support spans a variety of duty free gondolas and eye-catching in-store branding.

Commenting on the success of Omé, Karelia Tobacco Company UK Director Robin Page told The Moodie Report: “It was felt by Karelia that with the sophistication of the design and elegance of the packaging this product would suit the French smokers and this has been proven to be correct with the brand enjoying phenomenal success.

“We started with Omé Regular and Yellow in 2010, introduced Omé Menthol in 2011 and completed the line-up with Omé White in 2012. Our total sales of Omé have made us one of the fastest-growing brands in 2012, which is particularly pleasing when you look at the strength of the opposition in this market.”

He continued: “In volume terms we grew over +50% in 2012 against 2011 and will be looking for major growth again in 2013. The success in France has led Karelia to launch Omé in a number of other European domestic markets.”

Some of the major duty free operators carrying the Omé Superslims range

Karelia offers a variety of support for the brand in duty free stores

Triple-digit growth each year since launch

Omé Superslims cigarettes have registered triple-digit turnover growth each year since their April 2009 debut. According to Karelia’s figures, estimated year-on-year growth in 2012 reached +492% – a healthy upswing compared with the previous year’s impressive increase of +361%.

Source: Karelia Tobacco Company

In France, where the brand has proved so popular, Omé sold an estimated 34.9 million sticks in the domestic market in 2012, which was a +31% jump versus the prior year. And the brand has shown remarkable percentage sales uplifts each year since 2010. For 2012, the year-on-year estimated increase stands at +2,909% compared to 2011.

Omé Superslims registered one of the highest year-on-year percentage increases in delivery volume sales of any brand in the French market in September 2012, according to figures from the Revue des Tabacs journal. The brand’s delivery volume sales surged +58.7% year-on-year for the month.

In Western European markets as a whole, Omé racked up sales of 115.9 million sticks in 2011 and an estimated 179 million sticks in 2012.