Trademark-First Global Brand Building

“Typical of Rupert who was never one to wait for things to happen but instead made them happen, he registered Rembrandt’s trademark in 70 countries. This was something rare at the time – among Afrikaans businesses, only the KWV’s trademark had been registered outside of South Africa. Rupert’s early grasp of the importance of trademarks, something that would become almost an obsession, was to prove a crucial factor in the global success of his group.”

“The launching of Peter Stuyvesant makes a perfect case study of marketing ingenuity. With the choice of the name, the design of the packet, and the advertising and marketing the aim was ‘to create a youthful and dynamic image for a new, young international product at home in the whole world’. Rupert tells that a team of bright young salesmen, with the right appearance and dressed appropriately, were selected to sell the dynamic new product. For maximum effect, each new town and city was invaded by a convoy of panel vans emblazoned with the Peter Stuyvesant packet and the slogan that became world-famous: ‘International passport to smoking pleasure.’ The new cigarette was so popular that during the launch in the Netherlands, the vans were besieged in the street by customers begging for stock for their local tobacconist. And the marketing was so effective that the group even received letters from customers wanting to procure the ‘international passport’!”