# Tobacco Industry Marketing Core

> **NIH NIH U54** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2020 · $183,811

## 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:** 9999501
- **Project number:** 5U54CA229973-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Jane JANE Lewis
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $183,811
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-14 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9999501

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9999501, Tobacco Industry Marketing Core (5U54CA229973-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9999501. Licensed CC0.

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