TAAT scores sponsorship deal with Professional Bull Riders League

TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness (TAAT Lifestyle & Wellness Stock Quote, Chart, News, Analysts, Financials CSE:TAAT) have scored a three-year sponsorship deal with the Professional Bull Riders League in the United States. Makers of the Beyond Tobacco cigarette, TAAT said the brand promotion will give the company added momentum as it builds out its presence across the US.

Less than a year into its stint as a public company, TAAT has already rewarded investors with a four-bagger since the stock’s debut last June. TAAT started selling in the state of Ohio this past December and by the end of January, TAAT reported 60 per cent of tobacco retailers in Ohio who carried its products, a line of three varieties, Original, Smooth and Menthol, for three or more weeks had reordered. The company then launched its e-commerce site in February, selling over C$50,000 of product in its first 48 hours, while last week TAAT announced a C$1.25-million wholesale order from its national distributor Worldwide Vape Distribution.

Announced on Tuesday, the sponsorship agreement with Professional Bull Riders (PBR) will see TAAT recognized as the league’s exclusive combustible Smoke Product sponsor, with TAAT’s logo and messaging to be displayed at PBR events starting this year and carrying throughout the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

TAAT said PBR hosts over 300 events annually attracting over three million attendees per year and millions of viewers of PBR events broadcast globally, with US national televised coverage of its Unleash the Beast tour events.

“We are thrilled to enter into this sponsorship agreement with PBR,” said TAAT CEO Setti Coscarella in a press release. “The strong record of PBR’s sponsorship renewal speaks to its success in delivering on the brand awareness metrics sought by its sponsors.”

“We believe that being a sponsor of PBR can provide excellent visibility for our brand among smokers aged 21+ who follow the league and its events, and we look forward to seeing how this can help us build upon our existing brand equity as we begin efforts to scale our product rollout in the United States,” Coscarella said.

Along with exclusivity in the combustible smoke products category, TAAT said the PBR deal involves elements such as arena marketing placements of TAAT logos and in-arena commercials and displays, in-arena sweepstakes promotions, a TAAT-branded “smoke zone” at select event venues, in-market sponsorships, official partnership with PBR’s PBRewards program as well as online and social media advertising.

TAAT will be joining the ranks of other current PBR sponsors include names like Monster energy drink, Wrangler workwear and Caterpillar construction equipment.

Formed in 1992, PBR currently features over 500 bull riders from the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Australia and has its events culminate in the annual PBR World Finals, this year taking place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in November.

TAAT bills itself as the alternative to traditional tobacco cigarettes, with its plant-based Beyond Tobacco containing no nicotine, while at the same time, TAAT says its products differ from e-cigarettes and vape products in that users get the experience of smoking without the nicotine-related addiction.

TAAT Chief Revenue Officer Tim Corkum said the PBR sponsorship is the next stage in the company’s brand awareness campaign.

“Introducing a new brand in the cigarette category begins with understanding who the target consumer is and what needs they have that aren’t being met by other brands,” Corkum wrote in a press release. “This PBR sponsorship now evolves our ability to incorporate more lifestyle elements that can connect the TAAT™ brand more intimately with our consumer base and expose our brand to even more smokers who will associate TAAT™ as a brand which complements their sporting passion.”

Last week, TAAT released results of a survey of smokers across four US states which according to the company underlined the potential of its Beyond Tobacco products to make a dent in the $814-billion global tobacco industry, with TAAT saying its uniqueness and attractive price point within the industry set it apart.

The survey found that over 65 per cent of respondents (1,200 smokers in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Pennsylvania) said the financial burden of buying cigarettes was something they disliked about smoking and that half of respondents said they “Definitely Would” or “Probably Would” purchase TAAT at proposed price points in their respective states. A further 95 per cent said the ability to purchase TAAT online was either “Extremely Appealing,” “Very Appealing” or “Somewhat Appealing.”

So far, part of TAAT’s rollout across the US has involved a TryTAAT marketing campaign which has shipped thousands of sample packs to residents across 38 states in the US, while in Ohio the company launched in January a 60-day video ad slot across a network of gasoline pump displays at 1,087 chain and independent gas stations.

In February, TAAT announced a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Christina Lake Cannabis to develop and distribute TAAT for the Canadian market.

Disclosure: TAAT is an annual sponsor of Cantech Letter