MIAMI, FL -- (Marketwire) -- 02/27/13 -- V2 Cigs, America's No. 1 electronic cigarette, has pioneered a multi-channel sampling program that has e-cig companies following suit in the race for highly competitive retail space. Amid the explosive growth of electronic cigarettes, the V2 Cigs model has emerged as the industry standard.

On Jan. 12, 2013, V2 Cigs was the first e-cig company to launch a brick-and-mortar retail product-sampling campaign. Held at Pilot Food Stores in Tenn., the program featured demo teams that approached customers who were observed buying tobacco products. Customers who showed proof-of-age ID were given a buy-one-get-one-free coupon and product demonstration.

"We want to educate existing consumers, not create new ones," said V2 Cigs Co-Founder and CEO Andries Verleur.

Verleur points out that V2 Cigs is responding to a critical mass of demand from both c-store retailers and consumers. That demand is being driven by the year-over-year decline of tobacco sales and the skyrocketing public interest in e-cigs. To capitalize on this seismic shift, V2 Cigs has debuted a multi-channel marketing program that Verleur says offers a "Total Retail Solution" for electronic cigarette sales.

In addition to demo teams, the V2 Cigs program includes:

• local radio and television commercials,
• web and mobile marketing that targets V2Cigs.com's 5 million+ monthly unique web visitors,
• zip code targeted direct mailers to V2 Cig's existing customer base,
• Sunday newspaper ads, inserts and coupons,
• event and cause marketing, and
• a full array of merchandizing options, including small-footprint displays.

This integrated channel mix is supported by other relevant messaging geared not only for impressions, but customer engagement. Some recent examples of V2 Cigs' marketing innovation include:

• V2 Cigs held a sampling event at Venice Beach, Calif., as part of a successful effort to set a world record for the most e-cigarettes used simultaneously in one place.
• V2 Cigs' sister brand, Vapor Couture, the only e-cig designed exclusively for women, was featured at WIRED magazine's pop-up retail expo in NYC's Times Square.
• V2 Cigs included a sampling component at a Halloween Bash fundraiser the company sponsored to benefit the Little Lighthouse Foundation.
• On Jan., 27, 2013, V2 Cigs brought its sampling program to the KISS Country Chili Cookoff, a day-long music festival headlined by country music's biggest stars, where V2 Cigs used iPads to qualify and collect 2,000 new discreet names.

For more information regarding the revolution of brick-and-mortar retailing of electronic cigarettes, the industry-setting V2 Cigs multi-channel sampling program or for an interview with V2 Cigs CEO Andries Verleur, please contact Lindsey Carnett at (310) 994-7380.

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