Grizzly Smokeless (Reynolds American Inc.) was second in market to Copenhagen—one of the oldest tobacco brands in country, established in 1822. To continue growing, the product needed to create a strong brand voice instead of continuing to rely solely on price point.

To resonate with its no-nonsense customer base, Grizzly–Tellin’ It Like It Is was created. The backbone of the campaign was hundreds of pub-specific ads running nationally in all major men’s magazines, including Sports Illustrated, Playboy, Field & Stream, and Car & Driver. It was continually supported by direct mail, email, POS, social, experiential, and numerous contests and promotions online.

Surpassing all goals, the work has helped transform a category upstart into the nation’s top selling smokeless tobacco, displacing Copenhagen, which had been #1 in the category for nearly 200 years. Two years into the campaign, the annual sales grew more than 26% with a 31.4% market share, $783 million net sales, and 434 million units sold—more than U.S. sales of Big Macs or boxes of Cheerios.