5 Common elements from addictive products
It seems almost inevitable that vapes are going to be a new hot product for the young - not the niche aid to help smokers quit that the government and many health charities hope - because 5 key elements of the Addiction Economy are clear to see:
1. Addictive product formulation and seductive presentation
Vapes combine a highly addictive ingredient (nicotine); lots of seemingly innocent fruity flavours; product development created for discrete and constant use, and sleek design which riffs off sexy consumer tech with multiple colours to promote social sharing.
2. Lifestyle marketing
Mainstream product marketing strategies positioning products as fun lifestyle accessories through promotion and giveaways at the heart of vape promo, and turbo-charged by social media influencers. (For the 12 of the most well used, see our Recommendation 4).
3. Ubiquitous availability and competitive pricing
These work best when the product is easy to buy - and vapes are ubiquitous. They are in every corner shop, supermarket, bar, club, even hairdressers and take-aways. And the online market-place is vast. Cut-throat competition results in a race to the bottom on price. It also builds a many-tentacled economic ecosystem with regulations lobbied against not just by manufacturers, but convenience stores, wholesalers and free-market think thanks.
4. Commercial drivers
Nicotine companies are looking to grow the market for vapes, they’ve promised their shareholders they will replace lost revenue as smoking declines. As the memorable WHO campaign suggests, “if your product killed 8 million people each year, you'd also target a new generation”. Opportunistic disposable vape companies like China’s iMiracle (Elfbar/Lost Mary), who now dominate the UK market, ignore ethical concerns all together, targeting children directly and work on the same ‘move fast and break things’ strategy as the tech companies they seem to be trying to emulate.
5. Undermining regulation through divide and rule
The divide and rule strategy the industry is using here is a co-ordinated effort to pretend to promote the role of vapes as a smoking cessation device (without every actually promoting them for that purpose) and so prevent their restriction. It brings tobacco companies in an unlikely alliance with ASH and Public Health England, but their end game is very different.
But, as intended, it muddies the water of public health communication, leads to a polarised debate comparing a new addictive product with the biggest cause of preventable death in the world resulting in no policy action on vape prevention or helping vapers quit.
What to do? Take all these things away. More in our white paper here