Marketing: Puffing Up the Ritz

Ever since 1968, when Philip Morris ads first proclaimed that smokers of its Virginia Slims cigarettes had "come a long way, baby," tobacco companies have been battling for the women's market. R.J. Reynolds now hopes to outclass the competition with the last word in smoking chic--designer cigarettes. Reynolds in March will begin test-marketing Ritz, a brand that will feature the logo of France's Yves Saint Laurent on both the package and the individual cigarettes. Reynolds Vice President Sally MacKinnon says the new 100-mm regular and mentholflavored smoke is aimed at women in their 20s and 30s who are "more independent, probably tending to be single rather than married, and who spend more of their income on fashion and fashion accessories."

The tobacco industry's first designer brand will be tested in Atlanta, Memphis, Oklahoma City and Seattle. If consumers respond warmly, the company could roll out the new product nationwide. Reynolds hopes it can win female smokers away from both Virginia Slims and Philip Morris' Benson and Hedges, the first brand to be marketed as a prestige cigarette.