OK, the term "premium" tobacco does not have an industry accepted standard. That misses the point. Yes, the word "premium" can be a tad subjective but it is also used as a marketing term for other products. IE Premium beers and wine.
Webster dictionary defines "premium" as: a price that is higher than the regular price : a high or extra value.
What would make a tobacco, wine or beer command a premium as defined above? I would argue that it's based on the rarity, the soil / region it's grown, taste, preparation and other distinguishable attributes (many already mentioned), to justify the higher price.
Lets not forget who the target market may be for Red Sun: Current smokers who can afford and see value in XXII's Red Sun to pay the premium. Would that consist of at least 1% of the tobacco market? I believe so. There is a correlation between wealth and education and I believe it's same to assume that many consumers will be knowledgeable to decipher the value of Red Sun. Some of the terms to describe this type of audience would be Cigar Aficionados or Wine Connoisseurs.
Why would you need a large marketing budget to target an audience that I described? Do you see large marketing campaigns behind high end wines? Wines are a very saturated market. It seems that you would argue that a large budget would be needed to stand out from the crowd. Instead, Specialty wine shops have "wine tasting" events for the Connoisseurs.
IMO, large marketing campaigns are to lure the average knowledge consumer to their brand. Patron is popular in large part to advertising. But ask many tequila experts and they will tell you that there are much better brands out there for less cost. XXII and Red Sun would target those experts in tobacco.
I noticed that you didn't respond to my sales model for Red Sun. Is it doable? Again, can at least 1% of the entire US tobacco consist of the target audience that I just described?
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