Making Pipe Smoking Sexy??
- Thread starter briarfanatic
- Start date
SmokingPipes.com Updates
Watch for Updates Twice a Week
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
- Status
Is there a 'pipe boom?' From what I can tell, the answer is both yes and no. For drug, food and convenience stores, pipe tobacco sales volumes are down more than 26% year-to-date vs. last year. (This number comes from a company called Symphony IRI. They collect the scanned data from major retailers around the country to report on product market shares and volumes.)
Many online retailers and brick & mortar tobacconists, however, are saying that their volumes are actually increasing year over year.
What I believe is happening is a channel shift. As pipe tobacco gets kicked off the shelf in drug & food stores (by e-cigs/cigs/flavored cigars), dedicated pipe smokers are forced to find their tobacco in new places - namely online, tobacconists, and cigarette/tobacco stores.
It's important to note that not all of that former drug store volume is being made up in the specialty channels. Overall pipe tobacco volume is likely declining 5-10% each year, a trend which has been in place for over a decade.
Regarding the new crop of pipe smokers... We just conducted a pretty extensive quantitative study of over 1000 pipe smokers, so we have a pretty good picture of pipe smokers both demographically and psychographically. At some point I'll try and share some of the study results. For now it's safe to say that the majority of pipe smokers are 'bearded old men.' (I place myself in this group. Bearded,anyway, and not getting any younger!) There is an influx of sub-thirty year old pipe smokers, but likely not enough to keep up with the mortality rate of the older timers. So it is likely that the overall number of pipe smokers is either steady or in slight decline. CDC data supports this as well.
Interestingly, newcomers to the hobby, regardless of their age, seem very eager to learn as much as they can, and they are more likley to visit sites such as pipesmagazine.com than their seasoned counterparts.
Many online retailers and brick & mortar tobacconists, however, are saying that their volumes are actually increasing year over year.
What I believe is happening is a channel shift. As pipe tobacco gets kicked off the shelf in drug & food stores (by e-cigs/cigs/flavored cigars), dedicated pipe smokers are forced to find their tobacco in new places - namely online, tobacconists, and cigarette/tobacco stores.
It's important to note that not all of that former drug store volume is being made up in the specialty channels. Overall pipe tobacco volume is likely declining 5-10% each year, a trend which has been in place for over a decade.
Regarding the new crop of pipe smokers... We just conducted a pretty extensive quantitative study of over 1000 pipe smokers, so we have a pretty good picture of pipe smokers both demographically and psychographically. At some point I'll try and share some of the study results. For now it's safe to say that the majority of pipe smokers are 'bearded old men.' (I place myself in this group. Bearded,anyway, and not getting any younger!) There is an influx of sub-thirty year old pipe smokers, but likely not enough to keep up with the mortality rate of the older timers. So it is likely that the overall number of pipe smokers is either steady or in slight decline. CDC data supports this as well.
Interestingly, newcomers to the hobby, regardless of their age, seem very eager to learn as much as they can, and they are more likley to visit sites such as pipesmagazine.com than their seasoned counterparts.
Wow that is a huge increase in traffic! I would say its more people - but I would also say its also the more content (dynamic) you have added to the website over the years also increases your rankings on google and your SEO which in turns brings more visitors.
Great discussion guys, thanks for some interesting points of view.
Since I went back to my pipes in April of 2012, I have seen a definite increase in the sales of flake tobacco. Since I only buy flakes, I can comment on that segment of the market. The number of blends that are back ordered on a regular basis grew substantially since I started buying my flakes with the intention of creating a cellar. I attribute this fact to people like me who are building our cellars in advance of the perceived threat of added taxes and possible FDA rulings. I also believe that sites like PM have a direct affect on sales because of how we talk up certain blends. For example before Wessex Brigade Campaign Dark Flake was talked up here and at other sites, it was readily available and it was never back ordered at the three major online sites, 4noggins, SP and PC. Now this blend gets sold out within 5 minutes of it being listed at all three sites and this has been the case since around December of 2012. My opinion is that more people are learning about flake tobacco and more people are building their cellars. I do not think that there are that many new pipe smokers going after these flakes as most new smokers gravitate to aromatics and English blends when they are starting out. I think it is more that people who have been smoking a while are branching out because of what they read here at PM and other sites.
I honestly hope that we are creating more smokers which will make our hobby healthier for the mfgs and retailers, but in terms of sexy, I do not think that pipe smoking will ever be considered sexy. In regards to PM magazine growing it's numbers, I think the reason for it is that Kevin offers so much more than any other site in terms of content. The forums here are not over moderated and the friendly atmosphere that is the norm here makes it very welcoming for the new smoker who has tons of questions. I am proud to say that we take the time to answer new smokers questions on a consistent basis no matter how many times these same questions have been asked. I think that is one of the reasons that this site has more new posts per day than the other sites combined. Our membership should be proud of this fact and I believe it is one of the main reasons this site continues to grow.
Leonard, here in Florida, I no longer see any pipe tobacco being sold at any gas station. The only pipe tobacco I see being sold in the drug stores is one type of Captain Black and that is it. Not long ago I would see all of the major OTC's being sold in the pouches and the tubs. They used to have an aisle at all the drug stores where cigars and pipe tobacco would be displayed. I am not sure when they pulled all of the pipe tobacco, but I would not be surprised if it coincided with the 85% wholesale tax on pipe tobacco that was instituted in Florida a few years ago. I don't know where the old codgers are finding their favorite blends if they are not going on line.
Since I went back to my pipes in April of 2012, I have seen a definite increase in the sales of flake tobacco. Since I only buy flakes, I can comment on that segment of the market. The number of blends that are back ordered on a regular basis grew substantially since I started buying my flakes with the intention of creating a cellar. I attribute this fact to people like me who are building our cellars in advance of the perceived threat of added taxes and possible FDA rulings. I also believe that sites like PM have a direct affect on sales because of how we talk up certain blends. For example before Wessex Brigade Campaign Dark Flake was talked up here and at other sites, it was readily available and it was never back ordered at the three major online sites, 4noggins, SP and PC. Now this blend gets sold out within 5 minutes of it being listed at all three sites and this has been the case since around December of 2012. My opinion is that more people are learning about flake tobacco and more people are building their cellars. I do not think that there are that many new pipe smokers going after these flakes as most new smokers gravitate to aromatics and English blends when they are starting out. I think it is more that people who have been smoking a while are branching out because of what they read here at PM and other sites.
I honestly hope that we are creating more smokers which will make our hobby healthier for the mfgs and retailers, but in terms of sexy, I do not think that pipe smoking will ever be considered sexy. In regards to PM magazine growing it's numbers, I think the reason for it is that Kevin offers so much more than any other site in terms of content. The forums here are not over moderated and the friendly atmosphere that is the norm here makes it very welcoming for the new smoker who has tons of questions. I am proud to say that we take the time to answer new smokers questions on a consistent basis no matter how many times these same questions have been asked. I think that is one of the reasons that this site has more new posts per day than the other sites combined. Our membership should be proud of this fact and I believe it is one of the main reasons this site continues to grow.
Leonard, here in Florida, I no longer see any pipe tobacco being sold at any gas station. The only pipe tobacco I see being sold in the drug stores is one type of Captain Black and that is it. Not long ago I would see all of the major OTC's being sold in the pouches and the tubs. They used to have an aisle at all the drug stores where cigars and pipe tobacco would be displayed. I am not sure when they pulled all of the pipe tobacco, but I would not be surprised if it coincided with the 85% wholesale tax on pipe tobacco that was instituted in Florida a few years ago. I don't know where the old codgers are finding their favorite blends if they are not going on line.
Thanks for the input LW -- always good to see you post around!
Also, thank you for your work in bringing back HGL! I have been smoking that stuff almost non-stop since its return. Not sure what the sales numbers are for that stuff (likely not top of the charts since the former Lane crew cut it), but I bet if you could get more smokers to at least try it, they would make it part of their rotation at least.
For more traditional blend smokers, it's a great blend to smoke if you need to please those around you but still want to taste a bit of tobacco.
For aromatic lovers, it's still a sweet, delicious, easy smoking blend. Don't let the fact that Latakia is in there scare you. It's done just right. While it is sweet, it doesn't get as cloying or boring as other aromatics (no offense) -- it's sweet but has a depth of flavor.
When I smoke it, my wife says it smells like roasting marshmallows, and I have to admit, the combination of vanilla and a pinch of smoky Latakia makes it taste like a marshmallow roasted over an open fire.
Also, thank you for your work in bringing back HGL! I have been smoking that stuff almost non-stop since its return. Not sure what the sales numbers are for that stuff (likely not top of the charts since the former Lane crew cut it), but I bet if you could get more smokers to at least try it, they would make it part of their rotation at least.
For more traditional blend smokers, it's a great blend to smoke if you need to please those around you but still want to taste a bit of tobacco.
For aromatic lovers, it's still a sweet, delicious, easy smoking blend. Don't let the fact that Latakia is in there scare you. It's done just right. While it is sweet, it doesn't get as cloying or boring as other aromatics (no offense) -- it's sweet but has a depth of flavor.
When I smoke it, my wife says it smells like roasting marshmallows, and I have to admit, the combination of vanilla and a pinch of smoky Latakia makes it taste like a marshmallow roasted over an open fire.
Kevin, just curious if your system is readily able to differentiate between truly unique visitors and search bots/web crawlers. You know much more about computers and programming than I do, but it is my understanding that websites in general are getting more "hits" as these bots/crawlers comb through the site's information more frequently and thoroughly.
I'm a member on another forum too, and they had to block all of these "web bots" because so many were hitting their site. They did not have the servers or infrastructure to handle it. You have a lot of content (forums, articles, and photos), and advertising/external linking, plus your site shows up readily in search engines -- I can only imagine search bots have been all through your servers. In the past, I know it was much easier to decipher the different types of activity, but I've also been told that it's getting increasingly difficult to do that now.
One other consideration is tracking these unique visitors. That's usually done by cookie tracking if memory serves me correctly. As awareness has increased about identity safety, viruses/trojans/etc. most of us have cookies blocked and/or turned off. If I have cookies disabled or I'm using a good firewall/anti-virus software, won't I be considered a unique visitor with each and every click on your site? Also, I visit your site on my PC, on my smartphone, and on my tablet. Even if cookie tracking is still effective, won't I at the very least be considered a unique visitor three times (one each for my PC, tablet, and smartphone)?
I'm not trying to say you're wrong or fibbing about the facts, but like with everything, we all have a tendency to see what we want to see. Plus we all know the cliches about statistics and making them say what you want them to say. I'm just trying to look at this objectively and critically, and I'm trying to do that will all the respect in the world for you, this website, and what both have done for our "hobby". Cheers!
I'm a member on another forum too, and they had to block all of these "web bots" because so many were hitting their site. They did not have the servers or infrastructure to handle it. You have a lot of content (forums, articles, and photos), and advertising/external linking, plus your site shows up readily in search engines -- I can only imagine search bots have been all through your servers. In the past, I know it was much easier to decipher the different types of activity, but I've also been told that it's getting increasingly difficult to do that now.
One other consideration is tracking these unique visitors. That's usually done by cookie tracking if memory serves me correctly. As awareness has increased about identity safety, viruses/trojans/etc. most of us have cookies blocked and/or turned off. If I have cookies disabled or I'm using a good firewall/anti-virus software, won't I be considered a unique visitor with each and every click on your site? Also, I visit your site on my PC, on my smartphone, and on my tablet. Even if cookie tracking is still effective, won't I at the very least be considered a unique visitor three times (one each for my PC, tablet, and smartphone)?
I'm not trying to say you're wrong or fibbing about the facts, but like with everything, we all have a tendency to see what we want to see. Plus we all know the cliches about statistics and making them say what you want them to say. I'm just trying to look at this objectively and critically, and I'm trying to do that will all the respect in the world for you, this website, and what both have done for our "hobby". Cheers!
If I find an ice cream I like, I tell my friends, family and everyone about it. I enjoy smoking a pipe and would want to spread that enjoyment to almost anyone. Sharing life's pleasures with others makes life worth living.
I'll admit that if pipe smoking gained in popularity there would be drawbacks (e.g., would the demand for briar pipes push Peterson pipes to the $300-$500 range?). However, I like to think the benefits would outweigh the drawbacks. For one, may we would see more tobacco stores with smoking lounges. Another, maybe the local cigar stores would start selling quality pipes and bulk blends (we have a wonderful tobacconist in downtown Cincinnati but there bulk blends and pipe selection leave much to be desired).
All we need if for James Bond to smoke a pipe in his next movie!
I'll admit that if pipe smoking gained in popularity there would be drawbacks (e.g., would the demand for briar pipes push Peterson pipes to the $300-$500 range?). However, I like to think the benefits would outweigh the drawbacks. For one, may we would see more tobacco stores with smoking lounges. Another, maybe the local cigar stores would start selling quality pipes and bulk blends (we have a wonderful tobacconist in downtown Cincinnati but there bulk blends and pipe selection leave much to be desired).
All we need if for James Bond to smoke a pipe in his next movie!
- Status