Dunhill Curiosities: Difference between revisions

A fellowship was created to connect Dunhill pipe smokers aficionados and keep them well informed about the new products through illustrated publications containing newsletters and letters from customers. The forms were made available in stores and were also inserted into the products boxes.

<blockquote><q>So don't expect to see Alfred Dunhill pursuing a host of younger smokers by creating novel tv products or by trying to graft on some kind of MTV image to its brand values. Instead, it is attempting to attract more customers - young and old - by emphasising the enduring social qualities associated with pipe smoking. The grandly named Fellowship of the White Spot is at the forefront of its activities. (The white spot was first introduced in 1912 because customers could not tell which side of the vulcanite mouthpiece should point upwards. It has since become a hallmark, indicating that the pipe is fit to bear the Dunhill name). ‘We’ve created a forum where pipe smokers all over the world can communicate with each other,’ explains Philpott. The idea is that smokers join the Fellowship via their local Principal Dealer. Through the Fellowship’s magazine, the company can offer product news and special offers, but it can also receive feedback from smokers and put individuals in touch with one another. Special offers can be made, and a generally closer manufacturer-customer relationship can be forged. ‘Fellowship sums it up. Pipe smokers are fellowship-type people. They are usually easy-going, friendly, easy to get-to-know people. The Fellowship carries that ambience.’<br><br>The Fellowship dovetails neatly with the essential ingredient of Alfred Dunhill’s image - Englishness. This is not the Englishness of football hooligans, fish and chips and political isolation, it is more a nostalgic evocation of more ordered times gone by: ‘Many things happen which tarnish the reputation of England, but the Englishness we are talking about is based on the reputation of craftsmanship, of reliability, of classic-ness,’ says Philpott. ‘It is the English Gentleman image. It’s an established Englishness rather than a contemporary Englishness.</q> The Worldwide Pipe Smoker's Magazine, by Tim Rich. Vol. 2, 2nd Semester 1993. Published by Magazine Partners, The Netherlands. P.42.</blockquote>

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