Vype Becomes Vuse In The UK
Vype is being rebranded as part of British American Tobacco’s transformation and focus on ‘new categories’ following a 44% year-on-year growth
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by Dave Cross
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BAT has announced the integration of its UK e-cigarette product line Vype into global brand Vuse. By taking the best from Vype, it says, the migration will allow a more cohesive focus on innovation, customer satisfaction and sustainability projects.
Vuse is the biggest closed system vaping offered in the UK with a market-leading share of overall sales (44.2%**) and provides adult consumers with a wider range of enjoyable and less risky products, including vaping products. The investment in Vuse is part of a global focus on ‘new categories’ and is part of BAT’s transformation journey to build A Better Tomorrow with a commitment to reducing the health impact of its global business.
All models are backwards compatible so users can Vuse pods on Vype devices, and vice versa. Meanwhile, there is no sacrifice to flavour or enjoyment, with the launch bringing with it a host of new flavours and more innovative designs.
Vuse will be available in all the same retailers and has been rebranded to make it easier to spot in store and online. Flavours and devices are visualised through multi-dimensional shapes on the packaging that gives each flavour and device a unique design.
Khurram Durrani, Head of BAT UK Trade explained: “In a fast-growing market, Vype has exceeded our expectations. It’s the fastest-growing closed system brand in the UK, with year-on-year growth of 44% overall (and 36% in the independent and symbols category) in 2021. It also boasts a market-leading share of sales overall (44%) and in independent and symbol stores (38%), as of early April (Nielsen). And last year, more than two-thirds of the 686,000 regular vapour consumers used a Vype product. (Kantar).
“Last year we invested nearly half a billion pounds in reduced risk categories, including vaping, because they are the future of our business. The UK is our biggest market outside of the US, so we are refreshing the brand and are doubling down on serving our customers even better. More than a new name, or fresh look and feel that makes it easier to spot Vuse in store and online, this is about sustainable growth, globally. It’s about giving consumers Vype’s great taste and quality, with more device innovations and flavours.”
The Vuse packaging is made from 100% recyclable cardboard, while the ePod device kits and pod packs are plastic film free. The team have also removed the silicone caps from ePen3 pods to boost the brand’s journey to be as sustainable as possible.
The work being undertaken forms part of BAT’s Sustainability Agenda, a pledge to evolve all aspects of the business to be carbon neutral by 2025.
* Vype is the fastest growing brand in closed system: +7.7pp to 43.8% in Total coverage and +13.1pp to 36% in Independent and symbols YTD versus same period last year. Source: Nielsen data, YTD 2021 vs YTD 2020.
** Vype has a market share of closed systems of 44.2% in Total Coverage and 37.5% in Independent and symbols as of 11.04.21. Source: Nielsen data, 11.04.2021.
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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