Fortuna (cigarette)

Fortuna is a Spanish brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by the Franco-Spanish company Altadis, a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco. Fortuna is Spanish for fortune or luck.

Fortuna
Product typeCigarette
OwnerAltadis, a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco
CountryFrancoist Spain
Introduced1974 (1974)
MarketsSee Markets
Previous ownersTabacalera

History
An old Spanish pack of Fortuna cigarettes, with a Spanish text warning at the bottom of the pack

Fortuna was first introduced in 1974 in Francoist Spain by Tabacalera, a Spanish tobacco conglomerate which is now half of the Altadis corporation. When Fortuna was launched in 1974, the market was dominated by black tobacco and the few international brands of blonde (light) cigarettes that were very expensive for the Spanish smoker. As a response to this, Tabacalera launched Fortuna cigarettes which were a type of blonde tobacco with a filter. With Fortuna came the first American blonde flavoured cigarette and in its first six months almost 700 million cigarettes were sold. From that moment, the brand did not stop growing and only ten years later, it began its adventure at an international level; first in France, and then in countries like Italy, Morocco and the United States, where the cigarettes are known for their "Spanish character". For more than thirty years, Fortuna has been the best-selling brand in the blonde cigarette market, surpassing even the arrival of international brands in Spain.[1] The tobacco mixture used in Fortuna cigarettes is of a Virginia type.

As of 2006 the brand remains the market leader in Spain. In April 2008, Altadis changed the pack design to a "new and modernised look" and reduced the amount of its big pack cigarettes from 25 to 24, with the aim of setting a round price (which was €3,00 at the time). At the time, Fortuna was the second best-selling brand on the cigarette market. In 2007 it obtained 10.665 million cigarettes were sold, with an increase in volume of 3%, which allowed it to increase its quota by 0.3 points to reach almost 14% of the segment of blond cigarettes. The great rival of Altadis is Philip Morris International, which advanced in global market share last month (32.26% vs. 31.39%), according to data from the Commissioner for the Market of Tobacco, published in the Expansión.[2]

In 2013, Fortuna was the fourth best-selling brand in Spain with more than 184,000,000 packs sold.[3]

In 2015, the taxes of Fortuna, Ducados and Nobel were once again increased from €4.40 to €4.45; an increase of 5 cents.[4]

In December 2016, Altadis raised the price of their Fortuna, Ducados and Nobel brands with 10 cents, while opting to keep their Fortuna soft pack brand at €4,45.[5][6]

Advertising

Tabacalera and Altadis made various poster and magazine advertisements in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s to promote the Fortuna brand.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]

Besides poster and magazine adverts, a few TV adverts were also made. Some were made for Spain, but also for other countries such as Venezuela.[19][20][21][22]

A few telephone cards have also been made, featuring Fortuna adverting on them.[23][24]

Other memorabilia that Tabacalera made during the time, includes lighters, calendars and game cars, featuring Fortuna advertising.[25][26][27][18]

Sponsorship
The 2003 Fortuna Yamaha YZR-M1, driven by Carlos Checa (pictured top) and the 2006 Fortuna Honda RC211V, driven by Marco Melandri with alternative livery.

Grand prix motorcycle racing

Fortuna was a sponsor of various teams within the Grand Prix motorcycle racing classes. In races where anti-tobacco laws were in places (such as France and Germany) the Fortuna name was replaced with the "Spain's N°1" logo.

MotoGP

Fortuna sponsored the Pons Racing team in the 500cc class in 1995 and 1996.[28][29]

Fortuna sponsored the Gresini Racing team in the MotoGP class in 2002 and 2006.[30][31][32]

Fortuna sponsored the official Yamaha MotoGP team in the MotoGP class, along with Gauloises, from 2003 until 2005.[33][34]

Fortuna sponsored the satellite Yamaha MotoGP Tech 3 team in the MotoGP class from 2003 until 2005.[35]

250cc

Fortuna sponsored the Gresini Racing team in the 250cc class in 2002 and 2003.[36]

Fortuna sponsored the Honda team in the 250cc class in 2004 and 2005.[37]

Fortuna sponsored the Aprilia Racing team in the 250cc class in 2006 and 2007.[38][39]

24 Hours of Le Mans

Fortuna sponsored the Brun Motorsport team in the 1980s.[40][41][42]

Markets

Fortuna is mainly sold in Spain, but was or still is sold in Morocco, Italy, France, Austria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Venezuela and Brazil.[43][44][45] In the United States, Fortuna cigarettes are manufactured by Commonwealth Brands in Reidsville, North Carolina.

See also

References
  1. "Descubre nuestro gran abanico de marcas - Altadis - Imperial Tobacco España". Altadis.com. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. "Fortuna renueva imagen y reduce a 24 cigarrillos su cajetilla - Noticia - Gran Consumo - MarketingNews.es". www.marketingnews.es.
  3. "Las 10 marcas de cigarro más mortales". MiMaravatío.com. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  4. "Ducados, Fortuna y Nobel también se encarecen y suben 5 céntimos".
  5. EP (21 December 2016). "Altadis sube 10 céntimos el precio de los cigarrillos Fortuna, Nobel y Ducados" – via elpais.com.
  6. "Altadis eleva 10 céntimos el precio de sus marcas de cigarrillos Ducados, Fortuna y Nobel".
  7. "FORTUNA CIGARETTE TOBACCO TABAC TABACO - AD PUBLICITE ANUNCIO - SPANISH - 2183 - eBay". eBay.
  8. "Fortuna cigarette tobacco tabac smoking-AD publicite advert-English - 2184 - eBay". eBay.
  9. "RECORTE anuncio tabaco cigarrillos fortuna". todocoleccion.net.
  10. "CLIPPING RECORTE ANUNCIO TABACO CIGARRILLOs fortuna - eBay". eBay.
  11. "CLIPPING RECORTE ANUNCIO TABACO CIGARRILLOs fortuna - eBay". eBay.
  12. "CARTEL PUBLICITARIO TABACO FORTUNA.. ENVIO GRATIS¡¡¡". todocoleccion.net.
  13. "PUBLICIDAD PRENSA 1985 - FORTUNA - CIGARRILLOS TABACO". todocoleccion.net.
  14. "Calendario de bolsillo-Publicidad Tabaco-Fortuna-1991-02". www.el-trastero.eu.
  15. "Postal 024924 : Publicidad Fortuna para liar". todocoleccion.net.
  16. "CALENDARIO PUBLICIDAD FORTUNA , TABACO , 1991 , CAL1035". todocoleccion.net.
  17. "CALENDARIO FOURNIER, PUBLICIDAD TABACO FORTUNA , SULF , 1988 , ORIGINAL, CAL6922". todocoleccion.net.
  18. "CALENDARIO FOURNIER, PUBLICIDAD TABACO FORTUNA , BARCO VELA , 1988 , ORIGINAL, CAL6921". todocoleccion.net.
  19. 625rayas (13 November 2010). "ANUNCIO TABACO FORTUNA" – via YouTube.
  20. Chucho Lopez (5 December 2013). "Comerciales de cigarro Fortuna" – via YouTube.
  21. MARIO CUEVAS (12 January 2009). "Anuncio de tabaco" – via YouTube.
  22. miguelier (1 March 2007). "Comercial del Yesquero Fortuna (Venezuela)" – via YouTube.
  23. "Tarjeta telefónica: Tabaco Fortuna (Telefónica, España) (Tobaco) Mar:P-155". Colnect.
  24. "Tarjeta Telefónica Fortuna en El Coleccionista". www.el-coleccionista.es.
  25. "MECHERO BRIO, PUBLICIDAD CIGARRILLOS FORTUNA". todocoleccion.net.
  26. "MECHERO ENCENDEDOR PUBLICIDAD FORTUNA CAJETILLA CIGARRILLOS". todocoleccion.net.
  27. "BARAJA POKER COMAS. PUBLICIDAD TABACO CIGARRILLOS FORTUNA". todocoleccion.net.
  28. "Team profile: Pons Racing: history".
  29. "Fortuna HONDA PONS NSR500'96". www.kaz32.com.
  30. Sports, Dorna. "Gresini excited by Fortuna Honda team". www.motogp.com.
  31. "Gresini confirms Michelin, Fortuna exit".
  32. "Gresini Honda Loses Fortuna Cigarette Sponsorship". www.roadracingworld.com.
  33. "Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha Feature - MCNews.com.au". 25 December 2004.
  34. "Fortuna Yamaha launch at Jerez".
  35. "Hervé Poncharal Yamaha Tech3 MotoGP Interview".
  36. Sports, Dorna. "Official entry list for 250cc World Championship". www.motogp.com.
  37. Sports, Dorna. "Fortuna Honda make official presentation in Madrid". www.motogp.com.
  38. Sports, Dorna. "Fortuna Aprilia to set to work next week". www.motogp.com.
  39. Sports, Dorna. "Fortuna Aprilia duo head early 250cc leaderboard". www.motogp.com.
  40. "Quando le corse fumavano". 29 October 2015.
  41. others, The Zen Cart® Team and. "SLOT.IT CA03F - Porsche 962C LH #17 'FORTUNA' 2nd Le Mans 1986 [CA03F] - $69.00 : Armchair Racer, Slot Cars, Scalextric, Ninco, Fly, Carrera". www.armchairracer.com.au.
  42. "Figsbury's most recent Flickr photos - Picssr". picssr.com.
  43. "BrandFortuna. - Cigarettes Pedia". Cigarettespedia.com. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  44. "Fortuna". Zigsam.at. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  45. "Brands". Cigarety.by. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.