Kingsley Wheaton

Kingsley Wheaton has been a member of the British American Tobacco (BAT) management team since 2012.¹

In October 2018 it was announced that Wheaton will succeed Andrew Gray as BAT’s Chief Marketing Officer in January 2019.²

Career with British American Tobacco

Wheaton joined tobacco company Rothmans (which was later acquired by BAT) in 1996 and has held several marketing leadership positions in both companies, including:¹³⁴

• Regional Director Americas and Sub Saharan Africa President (2017-2018)
• Managing Director Next Generation Products, BAT (2015-2017)
• Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Director, BAT (2012)
• Global Brand Director, BAT (2010)
• General Manager Russia, BAT (2007)
• Marketing Director Russia, BAT (2004)
• Marketing Director Nigeria, BAT (2001)
• Marketing Development Manager West Africa, Rothmans (1999)
• Brand Manager for the Middle-East, Rothmans (1996)

In Charge of BAT’s Newer Nicotine and Tobacco (2015-2017)

In 2010, BAT set up Nicoventures in order to develop newer nicotine and tobacco products.⁵ Nicoventures later split into two arms (both still wholly owned by BAT); one for licensed nicotine products, called Nicovations and one for unlicensed nicotine products, the name of which is not specified on Nicovations website. Wheaton was appointed the Managing Director of Nicovations in January 2015.⁶ As of 14 August 2017, Nicoventures also traded under the name of Nicovations.⁷

On 31 August 2017, BAT announced it would be integrating its newer products, including its e-cigarettes (also known as electronic nicotine delivery systems, or ENDS) and heated tobacco products, into its core business and that Wheaton, Managing Director of newer, or “Next Generation” products, would lead this integration process.⁸ Previously, BAT had kept the development and production of Next Generation Products separate from its core business, tobacco.

For more information see Next Generation Products: British American Tobacco.

Speaker at Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum

In 2015 and 2017, Wheaton was an invited speaker at the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum, an annual tobacco industry event previously known as the Global Tobacco Networking Forum.⁹¹⁰ See also:

• Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum 2017
• Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum 2015

TobaccoTactics Resources

• British American Tobacco
• Next Generation Product: British American Tobacco
• Nicoventures
• Nicoventures, A Tobacco Company, Or Not?
• CN Creative
• Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum

TCRG Research

• Understanding the emergence of the tobacco industry’s use of the term tobacco harm reduction in order to inform public health policy, S. Peeters, A. Gilmore, Tobacco Control 2015, 24:182-189