Wills Classic (or Imperial Classic as it is known in some countries) is a range of

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into Rolling paper, thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhale ...

s in India, currently owned and manufactured by

ITC Limited ITC Limited is an Indian conglomerate, headquartered in Kolkata. It has a presence across six business segments, namely FMCG, agribusiness, information technology, paper products, and packaging. It generates a plurality of its revenue from t ...

. Outside of India, it is manufactured by

Imperial Tobacco Imperial Brands plc (originally the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain & Ireland, and subsequently Imperial Tobacco Group plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is ...

Overview

Classic Filter Kings is a cigarette brand with a number of variants. The first Classic variant was launched in India by ITC Limited in 1979. At the time the Indian cigarette market was mainly dominated by plain and Regular Size Filter Tipped products, with king size contributing barely 5% of the total

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

History

Advertisement - Classic Filter Kings circa 1979

Classic was launched in 1979 and advertised as a premium brand. It became popular in the metro areas in India, especially in the north and in the east.

1990s

During the late 1990s, the image was changed to become more global. The cigarette size was increased from 83mm to 84mm and the diameter from 24.5mm to 24.75mm. The paper quality was also improved. Classic Ultra Milds were introduced in 1997 The different brand variants were sold in packages with different colors. The brand was connected to sponsorships including

racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

. These were targeted at Westernised affluent smokers of the SEC A category. In 1996, the company began to incorporate music in their advertising, producing limited edition music packs, as well as other limited edition packs on the themes of polo and racing.

2000s

In the 2000s, ITC Limited launched new variants, including the slimmed version Classic Verve, as well as cigarette flavoured with menthol, lemon, or tea. In 2015, the company started producing capsule cigarettes, which contained a capsule that added an extra flavour to the cigarette. In 2016, the brand launched an innovation called Classic Low Smell

Markets

Wills Classic is mainly sold in India, but has also been sold internationally. ITC's cigarette business continues to maintain high standards of international quality and competitiveness. West Asia is a key export region for ITC and they offer a wide portfolio of high-quality cigarettes in this region. With a variety of brands under the Classic, Wills, Scissors and ACE Umbrella Trademarks. ITC has cemented its international standing being the 3rd largest player in the countries of Bahrain & Qatar. ITC was also the first company to introduce a flavour-on-demand (capsule) product in the economy industry segment in the West Asia region.

Products

Classic brands marketed in India include * Classic Rich Taste (formerly Classic Regular) * Classic Balanced Taste (Formerly Classic Milds) * Classic Refined taste (formerly Classic Ultra Milds) * Classic Blue Leaf * Classic Verve * Classic Verve Low Smell * Classic Ice-burst * Classic Double Burst * Classic Low Smell * Classic Connect * Classic Icon

References

{{Imperial Tobacco Indian cigarette brands Imperial Brands brands Companies based in Kolkata 1979 establishments in West Bengal ITC Limited