On January 12, Juul, the U.S. e-cigarette giant, announced the latest restructuring plan, increasing the number of layoffs from 500 to 650, accounting for about 16% of the company’s 4051 employees.
And cut $1 billion in marketing costs. At the same time, the company’s chief marketing officer (CMO) will soon leave.
It seems that Juul is facing more severe tests than they expected.
This is the latest development in a series of personnel changes initiated by Juul since September last year. Facing the strict scrutiny of e-cigarettes by US regulators, Juul tried to change its market strategy.
A large part of the $1 billion that Juul plans to cut will be marketing costs. In order to prevent e-cigarettes from being contacted by more teenagers, Juul decided to reduce marketing, and they would no longer promote e-cigarettes on TV, paper media and the Internet.
When Juul was at its peak earlier this year, the startup hired an average of 300 people a month.
Juul said that the reduction of the company’s size and the adjustment of its marketing strategy are all aimed at winning the trust of the public.
Juul said in a statement that the company will continue to invest in product research and development to explore new technologies that can “combat minors’ smoking.” For example, Juul’s Bluetooth connected vaping device tries to prevent young people from smoking electronic cigarettes.
“This layoff and market strategy adjustment will help Juul focus on research and development of electronic cigarette products to reduce the use of minors, invest in scientific research and create new technologies, and obtain licenses to operate in the United States and around the world,” said Klauster Witt, the current CEO of Juul.
Maybe a new era of mod vapes is coming.
