Brand: Nick & Johnny

Who on earth are Nick and Johnny?

We know that the Nick and Johnny brand was developed with ex-smokers in mind. For that reason, the portions are far stronger than most other labels released by Swedish Match. However, the question of who Nick and Johnny are has so far gone unanswered…

The snus with an extra kick...

Swedish Match had a specific target in mind with the development of this snus. They wanted to make a new variety of snus that would suit an upcoming generation of snus users who did not hold with the old traditions. Like many other snus labels, it began with a lot of research and interviews with snus users. The snus that came out of the development phase was a significantly stronger one, with an average of 40% more nicotine in each portion – leading to a strength of 11mg per portion, as opposed to the usual 8mg. This turned out to be an important step to convince the ex smokers to turn to snus, as they would otherwise not get the same kick out of using snus.

The decision was made to call the brand Nick and Johnny and the first batches were sold in Norway in 2006. It quickly became very popular, gaining a 2% market share (a hell of a lot of snus!) within a short period. Just a year later, the 12mg Nick & Johnny Strong version was released, as an alternative with even more of a kick. In 2010, a white version of Nick and Johnny Strong appeared on the market. This is a slightly drier snus but had undergone moisture treatment before the pouches are sealed to ensure the same fast flavor release. The White version of Nick and Johnny snus was a roaring success in Norway with sales increasing by 165% in just three years.

Is that the end of the story? We don’t think so. We all know how hard-working the people at Swedish match are, so our instinct is that the Nick and Johnny snus varieties will be refined even more and who knows what the future will bring?

No luck with Google…

We tried and tried, but all the searched led nowhere. We still have no idea about the true identities of the famous Nick and Johnny. Even our attempts to spy out the brand bible resulted in no luck. Our gut instinct is that this brand is for people who are way too hip to be found in any of the places we would look (in case you aren’t aware, we are all totally average computer consultants working our normal boring 9-5 jobs – with the occasional all-nighter). Perhaps a more thorough foray into the worlds of nightclub promoters, street artists, photographers, skaters, bikers, remix DJs… (the list goes on) would yield more results but it’s difficult to say. What we CAN say is that these people seemed laid-back, confident about who they are and into all kinds of new and innovative music styles. From our perspective it seemed like they had something of a slacker attitude towards work, but on the other hand were totally immersed in various projects. You get the idea. It was an interesting vacation from our real lives, we met some interesting people and saw life from their perspective for a short while, but in the end we have to admit being glad to get back to the familiar world of selling snus. However, the Nick and Johnny snus brand is made for people just like these. Perhaps just like you too…?