Supreme is a popular brand, and the prototype of vape culture is also a pursuit of personality and fashion, which have a high degree of agreement between the two things. Therefore, the brilliant Supreme red, with the vape circle together makes no sense of disobedience.
However, when there are more and more vape products printed with the Supreme logo on the market, there are also questions and curiosity. Supreme has always brought its own topics and traffic, and where does the attention or criticism of Supreme’s electronic cigarette products come from? Not long ago, the reporter discussed the recently popular joint story of Supreme e-cigarettes in his article. This article arouses readers’ thinking about the “Supreme” IP: how does a Chinese local e-cigarette manufacturer cooperate with the “Supreme” brand in New York? Can shortcuts and detours in this process provide more references for e-cigarette brands planning to apply for IP co-branding? The reporter was invited to interview Chou of Supreme e-cigarette manager of product development and brand management. At present, there are two series of Supreme electronic cigarette products. S1 is a disposable vape pen that was launched in July, and Q1, a pod system, is also on sale in August. The current monthly sales volume of the new model is more than 300000 sets.
This practitioner, who has been engaged in e-cigarettes since the earliest Ruyan era, explained to us the understanding of products, brands and the whole industry.
(the following is arranged according to the interview with Chou)
Reporter: Supreme is from New York. It’s an internationally renowned fashion brand. What do you think of the culture and philosophy of the Supreme brand?
Chou: Supreme initially combined with street skateboarding, graffiti, hip-hop and other cultures as the starting point, and became a fashion brand on the international front line. Through contact, we can feel that the brand is thoughtful, bold and avant-garde.
Reporter: what are the opportunities for you to enter the e-cigarette industry and choose Supreme?
Chou: I started in advertising. But since the era of e-cigarettes, the originator of e-cigarettes, I have been in touch with e-cigarettes and invested in other brands. Since the appearance of nicotine salt, the taste of electronic cigarettes has been really liked by more people.
At first, the industry created the concept of replacing cigarettes and quitting smoking, and then electronic cigarettes gradually developed into players, and became more and more popular among young people. So we thought of combining the product with trendy brand, and the brand tone of Supreme is very consistent. The IP of “Supreme” has its own identification and topicality. On the premise of a good product experience, it will have an immediate effect in social scenes.
Reporter: is your product authorized by Supreme? How to prove it?
Chou: Yes, but in terms of business protection, proof of cooperation agreement and so on, we does not want to disclose them to the outside world.
Reporter: when did you get it? How long does it take from application to approval?
Chou: I got it three months ago. I’ve been communicating for many months.
Reporter: When authorized by Supreme, it will have great advantages over other brands in the industry, right?
Chou: first of all, we have great confidence in all aspects of product structure design. The former electronic smog technology used cotton core heating technology, the vapor from the atomization is relatively soft; the ceramic heating technology has good stability, but the fog is relatively thick. Therefore, we use the self-developed ceramic and cotton atomizing core, which has the characteristics of ceramic core and the soft fog of cotton core. At the same time, the cotton quality strengthens the vape juice leakage prevention, and there will be no ejuice leakage. In terms of atomizer and structure design, we have many patents with independent intellectual property rights. From the disposable vape pen S1 to the latest pod system Q1, we have chosen the shape of cylinder. This persistence is mainly because the circle can give people the initial perception of cigarette.
The concept of “trend” can be embodied vividly by adding the Supreme logo to the simple round device. Supreme e-cigarettes also have a lot of flavors. Every taste should have good taste and rich layers. In the cooperation with some excellent e-liquid factories, we will repeatedly adjust the taste to achieve the taste stage of pre, middle and post, each section is worth fine products, and carry out a lot of user experience research, so that people know that it is an interesting thing to taste the atomizer. In general, our cooperation with Supreme is to bring consumers a new understanding of atomizers.
Reporter: there was “Supreme e-cigarette” on the market a long time ago, which can be easily found online and offline. Are these products authorized by Supreme?
Chou: our new generation of pod system products are patented. If someone imitates them, we can use our intellectual property rights to protect them even if we don’t use the Supreme IP to sue him.
Reporter: what are the main sales channels of your products?
Chou: e-commerce channels, offline bars, joint activities of fashion culture, and e-cigarette stores are all selling it.
In addition, social e-commerce is also a big advantage for us, with many platforms cooperating with us. We think that social attributes and the spread of e-cigarettes can fit well, just like cigarettes are also spread in social occasions.
Reporter: there is some uncontrollability in the age of promotion through social interaction. Will it involve the problem of attracting minors?
Chou: in terms of sales, we never induce, and mark on the packaging of each product that we do not sell to minors under the age of 18. There are no minors in the sales channels we cooperate with.
Reporter: what is your attitude towards the national standard?
Chou: on the macro level, e-cigarette is an evolution and a trend. The national standard comes out one day earlier, we embrace one day earlier. If we want to be a good enterprise, we must do it according to the regulations. I believe that the state will set a standard that can guarantee everyone’s health and safety, and let the unqualified practitioners out of practice.
