BAT profile:
British American Tobacco has been in business for more than 100 years, trading through the turbulence of wars, revolutions and nationalisations as well as all the controversy surrounding smoking.
The business was formed in 1902, as a joint venture between the UK’s Imperial Tobacco Company and the American Tobacco Company founded by James ‘Buck’ Duke.
Despite its name, derived from the home bases of its two founding companies, British American Tobacco was established to trade outside both the UK and the USA, and grew from its roots in dozens of countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and continental Europe.
British American Tobacco's brand strategy differentiates it from its competitors and underpins its approach to product development. The Group continues to build a focused, segmented and differentiated brand portfolio and allocates resources to a full range of brands deployed in the key industry areas that offer the most robust source of volume and profit growth.
The Group continues to invest in its four global drive brands - Dunhill ,Kent Pall Mall , which account for 26 per cent of global volumes and grew by 16 per cent in 2008. Vogue, Viceroy, Rothmans, Kool, Benson & Hedges, 555, Peter Stuyvesant, and John Player Gold Leaf are also part of the Group's international brand portfolio, playing a key strategic role in the different regions where the Group does business.
Today, British American Tobacco is the world’s most international tobacco group with its brands sold in more than 180 international markets. With over 300 brands in the portfolio, the Group makes the cigarette chosen by one in eight of the world’s one billion adult smokers. The Group holds robust market positions in each of its regions and enjoys market leadership in more than 50 markets.