# Tobacco Industry Marketing Core

> **NIH NIH U54** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2022 · $344,380

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY 
In a rapidly-evolving tobacco retail landscape, it is essential that tobacco control researchers are aware of 
changes in the marketplace and are able to quickly adapt to these changes. The primary function of the 
Tobacco Industry Marketing (TIM) Core is to collect and supply this tobacco industry information to members of 
the TCORS research team by acting as a data repository that supports and informs TCORS activities and 
research. The TIM Core will systematically and continually monitor advertising campaigns, new product 
launches, packaging innovations, labeling, and sales trends for all categories of tobacco products, with a 
particular emphasis on cigarettes and cigars/cigarillos. In addition to supporting the Center's four projects and 
their research goals, the TIM Core's ongoing surveillance activities will help inform our TCORS' Rapid 
Response Projects and support the work of early career investigators via our Career Enhancement Core. The 
marketing surveillance system housed within the TIM Core consists of three primary activities, each 
constituting a Specific Aim. The first and second aims (surveillance of product marketing and sales) will inform 
product selection for Specific Aim 3 (archive of packaging). Specifically, we will 1) monitor tobacco industry 
advertising and marketing activities by identifying new advertisements and marketing materials, tracking 
changes in campaigns for specific products (e.g., Natural American Spirit) over time, and identifying and 
monitoring emerging marketing avenues (e.g., Twitter, text messaging), 2) analyze national market scanner 
sales data to characterize the cigarette and cigar marketplace in the U.S. as well as trends in smokeless 
tobacco and e-cigarette consumption to create a complete picture of the total tobacco marketing environment 
and inform future Rapid Response Projects and projects in the Career Enhancement Core, and 3) develop a 
product archive to capture emergent and evolving packaging features that will be accessible to the entire study 
team. In sum, the TIM Core will serve as an important resource to inform the study team's research decisions, 
provide context to their findings, and ensure that the projects' aims are aligned with the dynamic tobacco 
marketplace. Conversely, discoveries from each of the projects may introduce new questions that can be 
explored using the marketing and sales surveillance systems. In addition to supporting the activities of the 
TCORS research projects, the TIM Core itself will generate research findings that are relevant to FDA's 
regulation of tobacco product manufacturing and marketing.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10478099
- **Project number:** 5U54CA229973-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Ollie Ganz
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $344,380
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-14 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10478099

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10478099, Tobacco Industry Marketing Core (5U54CA229973-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10478099. Licensed CC0.

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