Detailed SWOT Analysis of Pall Mall – An American Brand Of Cigarettes

Quick Stats on Pall Mall

Founder	Black Butler Company
Year Founded	1899
Origin	America
No. of Employees	55,000+
Company Type	Public
Market Cap	US$72.145 Billion (2021)
Annual Revenue	US$11.04 Billion (2020)
Net Income/ Profit	US$4.59 Billion (2020)

 

Products of Pall Mall

Pall Mall has been in the tobacco business for over a century, specializing in

• Pall Mall Red 
• Pall Mall Blue
• Pall Mall Orange 
• Pall Mall Click On
• Pall Mall Nanokings Red

Competitors of Pall Mall

Pall Mall competes on a global level while maintaining its quality and uniqueness, it competes with global brands such as

• Marlboro
• L&M
• CAMEl
• WINSTON
• Copenhagen

Now that we have seen a brief overview of the company, we can now delve right into the SWOT analysis of Pall Mall.

SWOT Analysis of Pall Mall 

A SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning and management technique that helps an organization determine their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to business competition or project planning. It is a useful planning system that allows Pall Mall to help identify its performance about its competitors and the industry as a whole.

To better understand the SWOT Analysis of Pall Mall, refer to the infographic below:

Let us now learn more about the SWOT Analysis of Pall Mall by starting with the strengths of Pall Mall.

Strengths of Pall Mall

Strengths are determinants that help identify the company’s unique qualities, what features does it excel at and what makes the organization stand out from the rest of the competition.

• Premium Brand: Pall Mall is known for its premium quality and king-size cigarettes. With continuous innovation, it comes up with classy premium designs of its products. It also introduced a new way of stuffing tobacco that supposedly made cigarettes easier on the throat.
• Famous Logo: Pall Mall cigarette packet looks attractive and premium because of its famous logo which contains symbols of two legal lions on the front and back side of the package. 
• Range of Options: Pall Mall cigarettes comes up with a range of cigarette options like orange, light blue, red etc. and many more along with soft packs with the traditional style packaging and design.
• Sponsorships: Pall Mall has been sponsoring famous Tv shows and radio stations such as the brand was a sponsor of M Squad in the late 1950s. Famous show star Lee Marvin has also appeared in Tv commercials for Pall Mall. Such sponsorships and star appearances gave Pall Mall a certain recognition in the market.
• Target Consumer: While most of the other cigarette brands under the competition target youngsters, Pall Mall has always focused its target towards an older group; an adult and grown-up set of males and females who live luxurious and classy lives.

Weaknesses of Pall Mall

Weaknesses are pointers that may prevent an organization from functioning at its prime level. There are areas in which Pall Mall has to improve:

• Limited Success Outside Core Business: Pall Mall, although being one of the industry’s leading companies, has had difficulty expanding into new product sectors due to its current culture. Also, the brand was the number one brand of cigarette in America in the 1960s but it has been surpassed now by leading competitors.
• Efficient Marketing: The product’s marketing leaves a lot to be desired. In terms of sales, the product is a success, but its positioning and unique selling proposition aren’t.
• High Attrition Rate in Workforce: In comparison to comparable firms in the industry, there is a high incidence of employee attrition. Pall Mall has a higher attrition rate and must spend significantly more on employee training and development than its competitors.
• Low Current Ratio: Pall Mall has a low current ratio, and its profitability ratio and net contribution percent are also below the industry average.
• Research and Development: Pall Mall has not been able to compete with the leading firms in the sector in terms of innovation, despite spending more on R&D than the industry average. 

Opportunities for Pall Mall 

Opportunities are prominent external circumstances that may provide Pall Mall with a competitive advantage.

• Technological Advancements:  Pall Mall may be able to tap into new markets as a result of changing customer behaviour. It gives the company a wonderful chance to diversify into new cigarette categories while also generating new revenue sources.
• Launch New Varieties: Pall Mall only deals in 4 varieties of cigarettes named red, green, orange, black. Pall Mall should think of launching new products like new cigarette varieties. Pall Mall can also consider launching cigarettes that may be low-tobacco to decrease the rising health impacts of smoking.
• Improve its Digital Presence: Being one of the top cigarette brands in the world, Pall Mall should take the opportunity of the booming digital era and build a stronger relationship with its customers online using digital marketing strategies. Having a strong digital presence creates a lasting impression and attracts new customers.

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• New Strategies: In the United Kingdom, Pall Mall cigarettes were sold as a mid-range brand and were regular Red, Blue and Menthol cigarettes until they later got replaced with Capsules. Pall Mall should come up with certain strategies to overcome these consequences.

Threats to Pall Mall

Threats are factors that have the likelihood to disrupt an organization. 

• Government Regulations: Pall Mall should monitor the fast-changing government regulations under the growing pressure from protest groups and non-government organizations, especially regarding the aspects of consumer health and labour safety.
• Competitors’ Low Prices: The company may be challenged to control its prices as compared to its main competitors. Other competitors have lower prices compared to them. Consumers may opt to purchase cheaper products that may look and taste like Pall Mall cigarettes.
• The Subject of Litigation: With tobacco being addictive and the single most prominent reason for preventable demise globally, Pall Mall is highly controversial, not short because of its record of confusing scientific proof around the health effects of smoking. It has been the subject of litigation and restrictive ruling from governments.
• Nation’s Law: Varied nations have different liability rules, and Pall Mall could be susceptible to a variety of claims if policies in those regions change.
• Not the Leading Brand: Pall Mall is still not in the top 5 leading cigarettes in the market, competitors like Marlboro are ruling the industry and if Pall Mall will not work on its marketing strategies to increase sales it will soon let Pall Mall suffer a significant drop in market share.

This ends our detailed SWOT analysis of Pall Mall. Let us conclude our learnings below.