Behind Soaring Sales, How Many Companies Still Remember Why Vapes Were Created?

Tobacco has been around for hundreds of years and has become, to some extent, a part of people's "justifiable needs," which we refer to as smokers. There are many smokers, and the market behind them is enormous. However, tobacco has a significant impact on health. People have long been dedicated to developing reduced-harm tobacco alternatives, leading to the creation of a new generation of electronic smoking products in 2003. Since 2012, the overall market for e-cigarettes has steadily grown. It wasn't until the end of 2018, when major global tobacco companies acquired the American e-cigarette brand Juul, that this news was introduced to the country, making the e-cigarette industry a new avenue. According to incomplete media statistics, since June 2018, there have been nearly 30 investments in the e-cigarette sector, including RELX, IJOY, Yibo Electronics, Gippro, FLOW, Jingyan Technology, Ono E-cigarettes, with capital from real funds, Sunac Capital, Inno Fund, Source Code Capital, and others.

Countless entrepreneurs and capital have flooded into the e-cigarette industry. Many internet-related individuals have pushed e-cigarette sales to new heights through online marketing. According to data, the impact of the e-cigarette industry in the first half of this year saw sales grow by 149.41%.

As sales rapidly increased, the entire e-cigarette industry has also vaguely divided into two factions—one that fully utilizes the convenience of the rapidly developing internet and quickly promotes e-cigarette sales through continuous marketing methods, and another that focuses on product technology, steadily achieving sales growth through accumulated good product experiences and word-of-mouth.

Internet-based electronic products occupy a large part of the market, with brands like RELX, MOTI, FLOW, Yooz, and Juul being widely recognized. They are generally perceived as not targeting adult smokers but rather a youth demographic. Consequently, they have also developed a "bitter heart" towards products, such as Juul's rich flavors, the snow-addicted fluorescent e-cigarettes, and RELX's smart vape pens, along with abundant marketing points, utilizing soft articles, Weibo, short videos, KOLs, self-media, WeChat, and other channels to conduct their marketing, embedding their products into the public consciousness.

Currently, e-cigarette products entering deeper internet realms have become the "work focus" of the internet, leveraging the "market attributes of the internet," relying on low prices, KOL effects, and extensive channel capabilities to rapidly penetrate the market and capture emerging users. However, due to the influx of capital, they must quickly deliver a satisfactory "answer" to the investors.

The technology group’s e-cigarettes occupy only a small part of the market. They were involved in the e-cigarette industry before the arrival of e-cigarette exports. Brands like Boulder, Whale Smoke, and Hik are relatively well-known. These e-cigarette companies believe that e-cigarette users should be "precise" traditional adult cigarette users. The founder of Xike E-cigarettes, Zhong Yufei, stated, "The original intention of e-cigarettes is to target smokers." Therefore, e-cigarettes should focus more on the product, from the overall design of the product hardware to the development of e-liquid formulas and product quality assurance, hoping to encourage many smokers to put down their cigarettes and choose e-cigarette products, significantly reducing harm.

To this end, Boulder launched the first new "Amber" modified e-cigarette that complies with the upcoming national standards, which not only reduces the nicotine concentration of the e-liquid to 2% but also meets the maximum fuel tank and actual refueling needs of users, along with the latest development of the atomization core. Whale Smoke has also recently released e-liquid with a nicotine concentration of 2%.

With the arrival of venting, these e-cigarette companies have gradually begun to focus on marketing, but they are more concentrated on product development. Marketing is merely a way for them to hope that more smokers will understand e-cigarettes and try this smoking alternative, promoting a method to put down traditional cigarettes.

Currently, the domestic society has two extreme attitudes towards e-cigarettes. One viewpoint believes that e-cigarettes are helping smokers quit, while another believes that e-cigarettes are poisoning young people. This polarization is due to the excessive marketing of e-cigarettes. Although almost all e-cigarette companies use the word "health" as their main theme, the internet must rapidly acquire a large number of users for various reasons. Many other marketing gimmicks must stem from "health," which is also evident in their products.

There is nothing wrong with important marketing; only by allowing more smokers to understand the advantages of e-cigarettes can they try e-cigarettes and gradually move away from traditional cigarettes. However, excessive focus on marketing, targeting young people within the entire user group, raises the question: do you remember that the original intention of e-cigarettes was to help those who have not left the smoke to put down their cigarettes and move towards a healthier life?