UK E-Cigarette Brand Vapestick Appoints Agencies

VAPESTICK®, one of the UK’s leading e-cigarette brands, today announced the appointment of three agencies to handle their multi-million pound marketing campaign following a competitive pitch process.

Arena will handle the online and offline media strategy, as well as planning and buying from launch onwards, with a £12 million media spend planned for 2014.

Meanwhile, Frank PR has been appointed to handle the consumer PR for the electronic cigarette company, with Arena handling media planning and buying, and Heavenly creating a brand advertising campaign.

The e-cigarette industry has grown rapidly over the past two years, with an estimated 1.5 million "vapers" now in the UK alone. VAPESTICK® already sets itself apart as a lifestyle brand, naturally associated with the fashion and music sectors, and the upcoming campaign aims to further enhance the brand positioning.

Frank PR will be running the press office and will look to drive sales and brand awareness of the VAPESTICK® products stocked by the likes of Harrods Pharmacy, Tesco Pharmacies, WHSmith (Travel) and Costco, as well as thousands of independent UK retailers. Further to this, Frank PR will undertake a celebrity seeding programme to help further establish the brand firmly in the lifestyle arena.

Heavenly has been appointed to oversee the creative behind VAPESTICK®'s forthcoming advertising campaign and will be responsible for developing and maintaining the tone and positioning of the brand.

Michael Clapper, President-International at Victory Electronic Cigarettes Corporation, the parent company of VAPESTICK®, added: "All three agencies really impressed us with their grasp of this dynamic market, with a fresh and creative take on where the VAPESTICK® brand should be headed as a market leader. We are delighted to have Frank, Arena and Heavenly on board and look forward to working with them to help drive the continued success and growth of VAPESTICK®."

Speaking about the appointment, Pedro Avery, CEO of Arena, commented: "We are delighted to have been awarded the VAPESTICK® account, to look after their media planning and buying. We are all very excited to be working with this exciting brand and look forward to helping them drive sales success and brand awareness as this category continues to grow at a pace."

Andrew Bloch, Frank PR’s Founder & Group Managing Director, commented: "Electronic cigarettes have quickly become the world's fastest growing industry – resulting in an extremely exciting space to be working within. We look forward to growing VAPESTICK's brand awareness in the consumer market and making it one of the best known brands in the UK through some stand out PR activity."

Steve Owen, Creative Director of Heavenly, commented: "Heavenly is delighted to have the opportunity to help Vapestick in the next stage of their brand development. This is an exciting time for the company and we are really looking forward to helping create a stand-out brand within the sector."