The campaign boasts: "We built the house of menthol." If you're over 30, that probably doesn't mean much. But it is an allusion to house music, a popular kind of dance music. The slogan also is a nod to Kool's long history. Launched in 1933, Kool was one of the first menthol cigarettes sold in the US.

A series of new magazine ads for the brand, designed by Cordiant Communications Group's Bates Worldwide unit, are debuting now. Designed to evoke the posters used to promote bands on the streets of urban neighborhoods, they are appearing in magazines such as GQ, Playboy, Cosmopolitan, Ebony, People en Espanol, Spin and Rolling Stone.

Brown & Williamson also is mounting a special promotion in July, selling four million packs of Kool cigarettes packaged in a special black and neon-green box along with a free, egg-shaped mini radio, complete with earphones. An insert invites smokers to "be a part of the Kool scene" at "the most jamming nightclubs in the hottest cities."

The cigarettes with the radio will be on store shelves in cities across the country but won't be available in New York because of a state law limiting such promotions. No Kool brand logo appears on the radio itself.

Brown & Williamson needs to get some buzz going and attract younger smokers to its brands if it hopes to slow the decline in its market share, analysts say. "They have to reduce the average age of their customers," says Martin Feldman, a tobacco-industry analyst at Salomon Smith Barney.

The company's share of the US cigarette market has fallen to 11.6 per cent today from 16.5 per cent in 1996. That's a drop of more than 185 million packs.

A unit of British American Tobacco, Brown & Williamson arguably has been hurt more than any other cigarette maker by the legal settlements reached between major tobacco companies and state governments in recent years. The agreements require the companies to pay out $246 billion over 25 years and place limits on how they market cigarettes.

The settlements have put a heavy burden on Brown & Williamson, in part because smokers of its brands, which also include Viceroy, GPC and Carlton, tend to be older and more likely to quit or trade down to cheaper cigarettes as prices rise. Sharp price increases connected to the settlement already have taken a big bite out of Brown & Williamson's sales.

Marketing restrictions that are part of the state legal settlements bar tobacco companies from advertising on billboards and bus sides and prohibit them from putting cigarette brands on T-shirts and other merchandise. This makes it harder for Brown & Williamson to jump-start interest in its brands, forcing the company and other cigarette makers to find new ways to connect with customers.

"They've got a tough job," says Alan Brew, a principal with Addison Branding & Communications. Although he described the new campaign as "very interesting and clever," he noted that the company needs to "keep a relationship going with" its customers.

Trying to win over young-adult smokers also can bring criticism from anti-smoking advocates who say the campaigns also appeal to teenagers.Brown & Williamson's radio giveaway already is drawing fire. "Tobacco companies say they don't market to kids. But this kind of promotion makes a sham of their statements," says Kathryn Kahler Vose, a spokeswoman for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, adding, "These radios are the kind of things that kids are attracted to. Why are they doing this if they're not trying to market to kids?"

Mark Smith, a spokesman for Brown & Williamson, said the company isn't targeting kids. "We know what we're doing," says Smith, adding, "We're trying to appeal to the 21-and-above crowd." He notes that the cigarette packs with the radios have to be purchased. The minimum legal age to buy cigarettes is 18 in virtually all states; in the rest it is 19.

To ignite interest in Kool, Brown & Williamson also is sponsoring contests among local DJs in bars, nightclubs and other adult-only venues where they can offer free samples of their cigarettes.

To promote Lucky Strike, the company has sent teams to meet with smokers taking cigarette breaks outside office buildings in big cities. In the winter, they dispense hot coffee from jetpacks on their backs. In the summer, they offer cold drinks, towlettes and folding chairs. In New York City in recent days, they've even been inviting smokers to view the July Fourth fireworks from a boat chartered for the occasion by the cigarette company.

"It's a guerrilla warfare approach," says Susan Ivey, vice-president for marketing of Brown & Williamson.

-- The Wall Street Journal