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Ronhill Unlimited - the first interactive cigarette packaging with QR code 

Ronhill Unlimited is the first interactive cigarette packaging in the world with QR code as a part of its design. Scanning the QR code takes you to a regional (ex-Yu) mobile web site where the user can find the nearest place where smoking is allowed by using the map that automatically shows his current location.

Ronhill Unlimited is a product of the SE Europe’s leading tobacco manufacturer – TDR. Design and communication were made by the advertising agency Bruketa&Žinić OM and its digital sister agency Brlog, who are one of the most awarded design and advertising agencies in SE Europe, with over 300 international awards.

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QR codes on cigarette packs reveal smoke-friendly locations 

For all the smokers who’ve ever wanted to know the closest public location where they can light up without breaking any rules or laws, a cigarette package now provides the answer.

A new package design for Ronhill Unlimited cigarettes incorporates a quick-response (QR) code into graphics on the back of the pack. The consumer scans the code with his or her smartphone to connect to a regional mobile website, which is updated daily. The site displays a map showing the consumer’s location and the closest locations where smoking is permitted. Croatian ad agency Bruketa&Žinic designed the packaging.

Brand owner TDR, a member of Adris grupa, reports that Ronhill is one of its best-selling cigarette brands in Croatia and the surrounding region. . . .

Considering the strict controls on public smoking in the United States and elsewhere, the QR cigarette pack is a natural for many markets worldwide.

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• Ronhill Refreshed  

me new appropriate clothes for the leading regional brand Ronhill. Ronhill Sailing is a limited edition, continuing Ronhill’s summer tradition of giving its consumers the packaging that conveys Mediterranean spirit, delight and ease, core values of the brand. Besides, this edition also continues to use digital technology innovatively by allowing the user to scan a QR code on the back of the packaging with his mobile phone. The QR code then leads the user to a regional mobile web site containing interesting and up-to-date events in the whole region.

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IM: Cigarette smugglers from Kosovo arrested 

BELGRADE -- The Serbian police broke up a cigarette smuggling ring from Kosovo to Croatia, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dačić stated on Thursday.

“About 500 cartons of cigarettes with Kosovo stamps intended for the Croatian market were seized in the border area of Vajska," he said.

"Four persons have been arrested, including three citizens of Serbia and one of Croatia," stated Dačić after a press conference at which he awarded a Serbian passport to Red Star footballer Evandro Goebel, originally from Brazil.

According to Dačić, this police operation was yet another proof that "crime knows no borders or administrative lines".

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Indoor smoking bans in Bulgaria, Croatia, Northern Cyprus, Romania and Turkey 

Background

The purpose of this study was to examine attitudes towards attempts to limit second-hand smoke (SHS) in five Eastern European nations. . . .

Results

Across nations, there is more support for smoking bans in offices and indoor work spaces and indoor public space as opposed to restaurants and bars and pubs. Personal smoking behaviours are linked strongly with the smoking bans. Most importantly, it is specific knowledge about the health dangers of smoking which fosters support for indoor smoking bans.

Conclusion

Policy implications suggest that government and the media must disseminate accurate information about the harm of smoking to broader segments of the population to gain support for policies that affect the dangers of SHS in these nations.

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International tobacco manufacturers want a more open market  

British American Tobacco, Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco International have increased their activity on the Croatian market in the last month in what is seen as an effort to challenge Croatian TDR - that currently holds 80 per cent of the market share.

Japanese JTI opened a factory in Croatia last year and reached an agreement to place around 120 million-worth of its product on the Croatian markets. The company has expressed hope that the market will continue to open up to foreign competition.

The other two international companies have started marketing campaigns.

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"Limited" smoking ban comes into effect in Croatia  

Although a "limited" smoking ban came into effect in Croatia on Saturday, the hospitality industry is far from ready for its implementation, reported the Bosnian news agency Srna.

According to the new law, bars and restaurants of 50 square meters or less can permit smoking if an appropriate ventilation system has been installed. Larger hospitality establishments must provide segregated areas for smokers, not exceeding 20 percent of the total area. However, in either case, permission from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare must be issued to permit smoking.

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• Croatia's anti-smoking measures get more strict 

Croatia re-introduced on Saturday tough anti-tobacco measures, the strictest in the Balkans region, as a six-month grace period for small bars and cafes expired.

"We are not happy about it. Such a rigid law should not have been introduced particularly in a time of recession," Dragica, a waitress at a small cafe in downtown Zagreb, told AFP.

"However, we have a terrace so the real impact will be felt in the autumn when it is too cold to sit outside any more," she added before chasing away two visitors who entered the cafe with lit cigarettes.

No ashtray could be seen at tables of the Britanac cafe, which is among those smaller than 50 square metres (538 square feet) where since midnight (2200 GMT) smoking is allowed only if they have installed a special ventilation system.

Its owner was not among only some 350 cafes that have requested permission to become a smoking establishment. According to the health ministry only 156 have received approval to do so.

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• “Tobacco mafia behind Pukanić murder” 

ZAGREB -- The Montenegrin tobacco mafia is behind the murder of Croat journalist and publisher Ivo Pukanić, Montenegrin businessman Ratko Knežević said.

He was testifying at the murder trial in Zagreb on Thursday, saying that Stanko Subotić, aka Cane, and Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukanović were behind the crime.

"The tobacco mafia started threatening Pukanić right after he published the first articles on Montenegro's state-sanctioned cigarette smuggling in the discontinued daily Rebulika," Knežević said in his testimony before the Zagreb District Court. . . .

Pukanić died, along with another victim, when a car bomb exploded in Zagreb in the fall of 2008.

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TDR to build tobacco factory in Iran 

Rovinj Tobacco Factory (TDR), a member of the Adris group, is planning to build a tobacco plant in Iran and to expand its business in the southwest-Asia market.

Adris has announced it will invest 30 million Euros in those projects.

TDR and Iranian Tobacco Company heads Davor Tomaskovic and Mahmood Abtahi have already signed an agreement.

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Research and Markets: Tobacco in Croatia 

The Tobacco in Croatia report offers a comprehensive guide to the size and shape of the market at a national level. It provides the latest retail sales data (2002-2007), allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. It identifies the leading companies, the leading brands and offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the market - be the new legislative, distribution or pricing issues. Forecasts to 2012 illustrate how the market is set to change.

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Croatian smoking ban reversal could ignite trade 

Smokers on holiday in Croatia can light up again in public from today after the country's smoking ban was overturned.

One in three Croatians smoke and, according to restaurant and cafe owners, so do many of the visitors to the Adriatic coast.

It is hoped the reversal of the ban will lead to busier bars and pubs, which could improve the holiday atmosphere for many tourists in the country.

Morena Tolj, who supports the government's decision, said: "Being a heavy smoker I preferred to stay at home than to go out and abstain."

Last month online magazine In2Town recommended Dubrovnik, in the south of Croatia, as one of the "most beautiful" spots in Europe.

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• Smokers in Croatia go back in bars as tobacco ban lifted - temporarily 

On April 1, Croatia banned indoors smoking in all public places, and bar owners say the restriction has halved their profits and forced many of them to close. . . .

So the government announced Friday that it will ease the ban, allowing spacious cafes and bars to have separate smoking areas, while smaller ones can decide whether to allow smoking or not.

Smoking places will, however, have to install extensive ventilation systems.

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• Croatia backs down on smoking ban  

Croatia has made a U-turn on a law banning smoking in public after buckling to pressure from cafe and restaurant owners who told the government it was ruining their businesses.

The parliament on Thursday adopted an amended law that again allows smoking in cafes and restaurants in specially designated smoking zones covering no more than a fifth of any premises. The remaining four-fifths must be kept for non-smokers.

Cafes smaller than 50 square metres (538 square feet), however, will be allowed to decide whether to become a smoking or non-smoking establishment after meeting certain criteria.

Ever since the law banning smoking in all public places was introduced in May, managers of cafes and restaurants have pressed the government to amend it.

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Croatia's smoking ban revised 

Croatia's pro-smoking lobby scored a victory last Thursday (September 10th), when parliament adopted an amendment to the controversial smoking ban. The amendment allows smokers to light up in designated sections in cafes, as long as they have a proper ventilation system, and post visible signs that warn of the dangers of smoking.

Restaurants, hospitals, schools, offices, and bars do not fall under the umbrella of the amendment, and smoking is still prohibited in those areas.

The amendment comes after an uprising of cafe and restaurant owners who claim their businesses have nearly collapsed since the law, one of the most restrictive smoking bans in Europe, was implemented in May. . . .

Relieved cafe owners hope the more liberal law will bring smokers back into their establishments.

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