Instinctif Partners
Instinctif Partners, up to 2014 known as College Group, is a Public Relations (PR) company based in the United Kingdom (UK), with a presence in Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and Africa.[1]
The company has worked with the tobacco and e-cigarette industries.
Contents
Background
Staff: Past & Present
- Brandon Mitchener, Brussels Managing Partner since December 2018.[2]
- Almos Molnar, former Imperial Tobacco Corporate Affairs Manager.
Relationship with the Tobacco Industry
Relationship with the Tobacco Industry
Helped Imperial Tobacco Set Up ‘Grassroot’ Opposition to European E-cigarette Regulations
Since 2018 Instinctif Partners has provided Imperial Tobacco with “monitoring and strategic advice on a number of issues but mainly related to vaping”.[3] According to Instinctif’s entry on the EU Transparency Register, this contract was worth between €50,000 and €99,000 in 2018.[4] Under Instinctif’s guidance, Imperial Tobacco paid €10,000 to fund an European Citizens Initiative called “Let’s demand smarter vaping regulations”,[5] a petition that calls for the European Commission to repeal EU Tobacco Products Directive Article 20, which is concerned with the regulation of E-cigarettes.[6] Instinctif’s Managing Partner Brandon Mitchener also revealed to Politico that the tobacco company was setting up a website to allow citizens to add their signature to the petition.[3] The website, vapingisnottobacco.eu, was launched at the end of April 2019.[7]
Sponsoring and organising otherwise disorganised citizens into visible ‘grassroot’ opposition to tobacco legislation is called Astroturfing and is a well-known tactic used by the tobacco industry, often hiding behind PR companies.[8]
For more information see Imperial Tobacco and E-Cigarettes: Imperial Tobacco
Other Tobacco Clients
- In 2016 Instinctif Partners reported that Philip Morris UK was its client.[9]
- In 2014 the Instinctif Asia branch worked with British American Tobacco (BAT) Hong Kong to reportedly help enhance BAT’s work culture.[10]
Worked with the E-cigarette Industry
In 2014 Instinctif Partners handled the PR of NJOY,[11] an independent American e-cigarette company, which was taken to court over e-cigarette patent claims that same year by Fontem Ventures, a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco. NJOY and Fontem Ventures settled in 2015.[12] In September 2016 NJOY filed for bankruptcy.[13]
TobaccoTactics Resources
Relevant Link
Notes
- ↑ Instinctif Partners, History: Our Story, Instinctif Partners website, 2017, accessed March 2017
- ↑ Instinctif Partners, Brandon Mitchener joins as Brussels Managing Partner, 18 December 2018, accessed February 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 K. Jennings, Big Tobacco’s push for Big Vape, Politico, 26 February 2019, updated 27 February 2019, accessed February 2019
- ↑ EU Transparency Register, Instinctif Partners, last modified 25 February 2019, accessed February 2019
- ↑ The European Citizen’s Initiative, Title: Let’s demand smarter vaping regulation!, last updated 20 December 2018, accessed February 2019
- ↑ European Commission, European Citizens’ Initiative: Commission registers ‘Let’s demand smarter vaping regulation!’ initiative, 12 February 2019, accessed February 2019
- ↑ Vaping is Not Tobacco campaign website, accessed May 2019
- ↑ S. Ulucanlar, G.J. Fooks, A.B. Gilmore, The Policy Dystopia Model: An Interpretive Analysis of Tobacco Industry Political Activity, PLoS Med, 2016; 13(9): e1002125
- ↑ PRCA, Public Affairs Agency and In-House Register June – August 2016, PRCA website, accessed February 2019
- ↑ Instinctif Asia, Instinctif Partners was Awarded the PR Awards Hong Kong 2014, Instinctif Asia website, 11 December 2014, accessed March 2017
- ↑ G. Charles, Full steam ahead, PublicAffairs news, 4 April 2014, accessed March 2017
- ↑ Fontem Ventures, Fontem Ventures B.V. and NJOY Inc Announce Settlement Agreement in Relation to E-Vapour Technology Patents, 16 November 2015, accessed February 2019
- ↑ V. Sullivan, E-Cig Maker Said Failed Product Launch Led to Bankruptcy, 19 September 2016, accessed February 2019
