2 How do you think the different institutional environments internationally have influenced Juul’s overseas strategy so far and what kinds of countries do you think it should prioritise?Adam Bowen and James Monsees launched their distinctive Juul e-cigarette in 2015. The product’s sleek style led to the Juul becoming known as the ‘iPhone of e-cigarettes’. Juul became the most popular e-cigarette in the United States by the end of 2017, and by the end of 2018 commanded a market share of over 70 per cent. In November 2018, the Altria Group (a traditional tobacco company) bought one third of the company for $12.8bn, making the two founders billionaires.

Bowen and Monsees dreamt up their colourful e-cigarettes while pursuing their master’s degrees at Stanford University.

They were smokers themselves, wanting to free themselves of a dirty and dangerous habit. The Juul design uses a patented form of nicotine salts, at 5 per cent strength, to deliver the quick nicotine peak associated with traditional cigarettes.

The website for their company declares its mission as to ‘improve the lives of the world’s one billion adult smokers by eliminating cigarettes’. Juul claims that it has converted one million adult smokers to Juul products, allegedly a safer product.

Traditional tobacco companies typically rely on television advertising, but Juul initially focused on powerful social marketing campaigns featuring attractive young models and singers on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Campaigns went viral, with celebrities such as Bella Hadid posting about Juul.

The result was a surge of use among teenagers, attracted also by Juul’s sweet flavours and by the fact that its small size and low odours help concealment. In 2018, it was estimated that 3.6 million American schoolchildren were using ecigarettes, presumptively mostly Juuls.