Sometimes it seems as if selling cigarettes and scandals go hand in hand. Two years ago, BBC Newsnight filmed a British American Tobacco distributor handing out free Benson & Hedges cigarettes at a youth beach volleyball game in Gambia, and earlier this year, the news that Dunhill cigarettes were being promoted between televised World Cup football matches in Malaysia sparked condemnation of British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Berhad, the local owner of the popular Dunhill brand.

But the days of selling cigarettes through association with sporting activities are numbered, according to British American Tobacco’s head of corporate social responsibility Adrian Marshall. He says the group is now at an advanced stage of developing marketing policies which take fuller account of the impact of its product on society, especially in relation to children. The group’s stated marketing strategy is to encourage adult smokers to switch to its brands, but critics charge that almost all tobacco advertising can encourage children to begin the habit. In Malaysia alone, about 50 children start smoking every day and around 10,000 people die from tobacco-related diseases every year, according to the Consumers Association of Penang.

When British American Tobacco recently began asking its stakeholders which issues they thought important, under-age smoking was mentioned in all of the 14 countries covered, and marketing practices in 13 of them. While the group has long operated to a set of advertising principles and has signed up to many voluntary codes, Marshall describes the changes now under way in its marketing departments worldwide as a major shift in the marketing mindset. ‘Our companies sell cigarettes, not cornflakes, and our marketing should be appropriate, given the risky nature of our product,’ he says.

The group’s chosen vehicle for further change is a groundbreaking agreement between the world’s three largest tobacco manufacturers on international marketing standards covering all tobacco products, which have now been adopted by eight tobacco companies representing 41 per cent of the world market. The standards apply from the beginning of next year and specifically prohibit marketing tactics of the sort questioned in Gambia two years ago and Malaysia this year.

The standards do not affect all forms of brand visibility. While they prohibit billboards within 100 metres of the perimeter of a school, these could still appear on routes schoolchildren take each morning. Nor will they cover all eventualities: T-shirts bearing cigarette brand logos are not made in small sizes, but there is nothing to stop children wearing oversize clothes.

Even so, Marshall says their effects will be apparent worldwide. ‘There will be no more television advertising and no radio advertising. We’re reducing our outdoor advertising and billboards. Access to promotional advertising will also be restricted.’

The International Tobacco Products Marketing Standards, which arose from discussions between the big tobacco companies about the industry’s role in youth smoking prevention, cover print, cinema and television advertising, product placement and internet advertising – in fact just about every kind of marketing avenue available to a consumer goods company. In addition, a European Union ban on all tobacco advertising and sponsorship is due come into effect in December 2006.

According to Marshall, the standards mean that ‘Our marketing practices in developing countries will be broadly similar to our marketing practices in developed countries. There will be very few countries in the world where our standards will not apply. British American Tobacco’s advertising worldwide will end up being pretty much as it is in the UK. ’

Marshall says the standards at first caused consternation among those responsible for marketing the group’s brands. ‘Many felt we were already strict with ourselves and the internal debate during the development of the standards was intense. These standards challenge the way we have been marketing, but have helped our marketing community to recognize that tobacco needs to be subject to far stricter self-imposed marketing controls.’

Marshall accepts that tightly policed standards will increase the risk of non-compliance. ‘If we achieved 100 per cent compliance, there wouldn’t be much point in having a code,’ he says. They will also apply only to those companies that subscribe to them. This will have the effect of excluding China, easily the world’s biggest tobacco market, where the state controls the industry.

‘At the end of the day, it isn’t possible to ensure the whole industry worldwide abides by the standards,’ he says, ‘but given the involvement of the three largest players, this significant raising of the bar will massively improve standards, above all in developing countries.’

British American Tobacco is also revisiting the type of campaigns it funds to discourage children from smoking. Its stakeholders differ in their views on this issue, especially from country to country. Some favour complete withdrawal, others believe the company has a responsibility to educate children of the dangers.

‘Our primary responsibility is in the area of how we market the product in the first place, but preventing children buying cigarettes is a shared responsibility involving other parties, including the health community and retailers,’ Marshall says. In the UK, British American Tobacco has temporarily withdrawn from a £2.5million ($3.9m) youth smoking prevention campaign aired on MTV in 38 countries ‘pending further dialogue’, but will continue to fund the proof of age CitizenCard, which is supported by the police, local authorities and politicians.

If its marketeers keep to the letter but not the spirit of the standards, the change will be more cosmetic than real. Nevertheless, people close to the industry believe once the standards begin to bite, the way tobacco is marketed to the public will look quite different in a few years’ time.

Jonathan Dodd, managing director of G2, one of British American Tobacco’s global marketing partners, expects ‘communications to be more tightly aimed at target smoker groups with messages that emphasize product attributes rather than brand imagery. The standards will certainly lead to visible differences in how tobacco products are marketed, but still allow us to engage smokers with propositions that differentiate British American Tobacco’s brands from the competition.’