Brand Spotlight: Smokey Mountain

September 23, 2022

In 1985, Smokey Mountain Chew was born as the first true innovator in the smokeless tobacco alternative space. Since its inception, the company has experienced tremendous growth, meeting a need in the industry for nicotine-free and tobacco-free alternatives to dip.

Their vision for assisting adult tobacco consumers in taking back their tobacco-free lives has attracted attention from well-known names. Pro Football Hall of Fame NFL Inductee Randy White tried the product many years ago and became a fan and spokesperson. Later, National Baseball Hall of Fame Inductee Chipper Jones, while trying to quit chew, also started dipping Smokey Mountain and has represented the company ever since.

 

Challenge

Before partnering with ZQUARED, Smokey Mountain had achieved a high level of success. However, the company faced considerable challenges specific to the Amazon platform. Multiple unauthorized sellers competing for the Buy Box on key products, duplicate detail pages, and unchecked MAP violations stunted their growth efforts and created a web of obstacles.

 

Plan

Together, ZQUARED and Smokey Mountain developed a strategic plan for overcoming these obstacles and furthering growth. Elements of this plan included three key areas for execution:

1. Consolidate third-party sellers into an approved list of distributors and remove unauthorized resellers.
2. Eliminate duplicate and unauthorized listings to reduce potential customer confusion, streamline the catalog and regain listing control.
3. Create and enforce a revised MAP policy to ensure consistent pricing across all channels.

 

Execution

To help narrow the list of sellers, ZQUARED conducted an extensive platform analysis, identifying all rogue sellers that were unauthorized to distribute products. ZQUARED and Smokey Mountain worked together to remove unauthorized sellers, leaving only approved sellers who operated within the brand’s set guidelines.

Since duplicate and unauthorized listings were created by unapproved sellers, their removal from Amazon simultaneously streamlined the catalog. The listings that remained are now under Smokey Mountain’s control.

ZQUARED and Smokey Mountain collaborated on creating a new MAP policy to resolve the pricing issues that plagued their online marketplaces. Smokey Mountain was able to effectively enforce the new policy, protecting the brand image, stabilizing pricing, and creating consistency across platforms.

 

Results

ZQUARED was able to help Smokey Mountain reduce the number of resellers to a select and authorized few, allowing them to increase the impact of their strategic advertising. Additionally, their newly streamlined brand presence and organized brand catalog helped improve the overall shopping experience for the customer. ZQUARED is proud to be in a partnership with a category innovator and looks forward to supporting Smokey Mountain’s continued growth.