Scottsdale’s NJOY has risen to the top of the e-cigarette pack by selling the sizzle, without the smoke
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By Jimmy Magahern Photos by Mark Susan
rew Beaver leans back in his office chair, takes a long, slow drag on what appears to be a cigarette—holding the glowing tip up in the air for a good couple seconds, in fact, almost defiantly in this choice secondfloor office space in North Scottsdale’s Kierland Commons—and then satisfyingly exhales what appears to be a swirling cloud of toasted tobacco smoke. In his slicked-back hair and crisply pressed dress shirt, Beaver, a former Madison Avenue ad exec, looks every bit a guy who just stepped off the set of Mad Men, the last place most of America has ever seen anyone smoke behind a desk. Or perhaps he brought the set with him: like the meticulously recreated ’60s-era ad agency offices in the TV drama he watches religiously, Beaver’s wall is papered with vintage full-page magazine ads for cigarettes—something few of us have seen since at least 1997, when iconic brand images like the Marlboro Man and Joe Camel were banned from print and outdoor advertising to discourage marketing to teens. It’s kind of a surreal sight in 2013, and Beaver knows it, revels in it. Ask him how it feels to play Don Draper everyday in this posh, modern loft space overlooking one of Scottsdale’s most desirable retail centers, and the 50-yearold ad vet just smiles, taking one more long, lingering drag on his NJOY Kings electronic cigarette. “It feels great!” Beaver is the chief marketing officer for NJOY, the Scottsdalebased e-cigarette maker that has quickly risen to the category leader in what’s projected to become a $1 billion market over the next three years. Founded in 2006 as a small start-up in the Scottsdale Airpark area that’s grown from 10 employees at the start of 2012 to over 50 today, NJOY currently owns 46 percent of the e-cigarette market. It’s closest competitor, Blu, owned by Lorillard, the Big Tobacco giant behind brands like Newport, Kent and Maverick, has about 25 percent. Analysts at Bloomberg and Wells Fargo & Co. are now saying Altria Group Inc., maker of Marlboro, is seriously eyeing NJOY as a takeover target. May 2013 Scottsdale Airpark News | 19