Since 2006, Sustainable Brands™ (SB) has envisioned a future where
people and the planet are healthy and flourishing, thanks to a transformed
economy. This shift will see all parts of the value network — from innovators
and legacy businesses to their suppliers, investors and customers — working
together to create the regenerative economy of tomorrow.
Working at the front end of innovation for a flourishing future means attracting
companies across the economic system. It’s important to help them recognize the
problems we face collectively and individually, and the opportunities these
problems present for creating positive change. Over time, SB has developed a
multifaceted platform to help enable that systems shift. It contains a variety
of programs and tools that help a wide range of companies to transform
themselves and their stakeholders. As a result, those companies can prosper as
future-proof brands that are right for the future we need.
SB’s hypothesis has been that even traditionally challenged brands and sectors,
if they are committed to ‘creative self-destruction,’ can meaningfully
contribute to a flourishing future. They can achieve this by reimagining their
purpose and redeploying their core competencies toward new product offerings
that better align with the needs of a healthy society and planet. The SB Voyager
program assists in that metamorphosis. It’s an onramp to SB’s peer-to-peer
Corporate Member Network that has been established to support the full
transformation of brands that face significant challenges related to
environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance and reputation.
“SB has a vibrant network of Corporate Members. It’s composed of professionals
from nearly 80 global and emerging brands who regularly learn from, collaborate
with, and support one another on the journey to becoming ‘sustainable brands’,”
said Darren Beck, VP of membership and international for SB. “Some companies
have much greater distance to cover on that journey. They’d like to join the
network, but have yet to meet the minimum requirements. If they’re ready to
fundamentally transform their business to help create a more sustainable future,
we’re ready to make room for them at the table. That’s where the Voyager program
comes in.”
Communicating complex, unfamiliar sustainability claims on CPG packaging
Join us as Applegate and HowGood share insights into marketing lessons, consumer response and understanding, and marketplace data on the expression and communication of new categories of sustainability claims on CPG packaging - as well as tips for avoiding consumer and industry backlash and controversy - Wed, Oct. 16, at SB'24 San Diego.
Today, SB is proud to acknowledge the first graduate from the Voyager program:
Philip Morris International (PMI) — which became the inaugural
participant when the program
launched
two years ago. At that time, it was well into an industry-first transformation.
PMI made a public commitment in 2016 to change its business by actively phasing
out cigarettes and replacing them with smoke-free
products.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) forecasts, there will still
be more than 1 billion smokers by the year 2025. PMI is working to provide
better, science-based alternatives for those adults who otherwise would continue
to smoke. To date, PMI remains the only traditional cigarette manufacturer to
make this commitment and thus reports
regularly,
and in
detail, on
its progress.
Prior to and during its two-year trial period as an SB Voyager, PMI engaged SB's
Advisory Board and Corporate Members in stakeholder sessions and member
meetings. In those engagements, members emphasized the importance of
demonstrating an ongoing commitment to its smoke-free aspiration and beginning
to envision what a net-positive future might look like for the company. PMI has
risen to the occasion. Among other moves, the company has reaffirmed its
board-level
commitment
to a smoke-free future and strengthened its sustainability
governance
during the last two years. This year, PMI furthered its
ambitions
— announcing an aspiration of generating at least $1 billion in net revenues
from ‘beyond nicotine’ products by 2025, as well as an increased 2025 aim for
the contribution of its smoke-free products to total net revenues to more than
50 percent; meaning that in five years, cigarettes will account for less than
half of PMI’s total net revenues.
“It has been gratifying to see the progress PMI has made in just two years by
leveraging the healthy challenge, support and encouragement of SB’s community
and our tools. It is rare to see a company move so quickly, as we hope all
companies will do — from thinking about how they can do less harm, to completely
rethinking their business — all with the goal of eventually becoming a
net-positive contributor to society,” Beck noted.
When PMI joined the Voyager program, it made the same
commitments
as SB’s full-fledged Corporate Members, plus the following Voyager-specific
commitments:
-
It is undertaking a transformational change that goes to the heart of the
controversies identified in SB’s membership screening process — in PMI’s
case, this involves selling harmful, addictive products and operating in a
highly controversial and criticized industry.
-
It has an active and influential change agent/champion driving the
transformation within the business. This is clearly embodied by Jennifer
Motles — who was promoted in late 2020 from Director of Social Impact and
Sustainability to Chief Sustainability Officer, and now reports directly
into PMI’s Chief Financial Officer, Emmanuel Babeau.
-
PMI CEO André Calantzopoulos has openly addressed the aforementioned
controversies, affirmed support for the transformation and stated how it
will help resolve the issues.
Through the Voyager program, PMI actively participated in bilateral
conversations with members and other SB stakeholders at Corporate Member
meetings and Sustainable Brands events around the world. PMI was also given
access to the SB Brand Transformation
Roadmap℠ —
a proprietary orientation and navigation tool that comprehensively maps out the
journey from business-as-usual to a fully sustainable brand, and helps companies
determine where they fall in five key areas:
Within each of these areas, the Roadmap defines five levels of progress:
PMI was required to use the Roadmap to assess where it landed on the journey to
becoming a ‘sustainable
brand’
and identify opportunities for improvement. To balance its self-assessment, SB
leadership scrutinized PMI responses to the assessment and facilitated external
feedback from a variety of its Corporate Members.
“Sustainable Brands provides tools like the Roadmap to help us understand the
north star and benchmark our performance internally. It also offers an
opportunity to receive candid feedback and directional advice,” Motles said. “As
an SB community member, we are able to participate in constant dialogue and
fruitful discussion with other brands that have designed for a regenerative
future from the start, have overcome transformational challenges similar to what
we face, or may want to collaborate on eliminating barriers that impede our
collective ability to change. PMI’s participation with the SB community across
the globe and its focus on transformation enables us to advance faster in the
right direction.”
SB acknowledges that welcoming a controversial company into the community is
hard, even when that company is transforming its business model for the better.
A lot of work goes into building understanding, cultivating trust and gauging
authenticity. However, Beck says, the engagement is worth it.
"We recognize that no company is perfect. To flourish, businesses of all
stripes need to reinvent themselves to address today’s global challenges. That's
why I find PMI inspiring," Beck explains. "The level of transformation that
they’re pursuing is a master class in big hairy audacious change. They are
transforming their entire business model through a process of creative
self-destruction — and challenging their industry to do the same. There are many
insights that other brands can glean from this journey and apply to their own."
SB founder and CEO KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz says:
“PMI’s commitment to industry disruption and business transformation
demonstrates how every company has the potential to course correct and help
create a more sustainable future. Its focus on switching smokers from cigarettes
to better alternatives has the potential to substantially improve public health.
But even more exciting is to see PMI taking a step towards a net-positive future
by setting a significant revenue target for products that go ‘beyond nicotine.’
Leveraging its expertise in life science to enter the botanical and respiratory
drug delivery markets is a way to retain and enhance talent and innovation,
whilst applying existing skills and resources to delivering more social good as
a brand. We salute PMI’s achievements to date and welcome them as a Corporate
Member.”
SB sees its Voyager program and Brand Transformation Roadmap as tools to
cultivate authentic engagement and progress with companies that are committed to
reshaping their products and business models in service of a socially and
environmentally regenerative future. When companies — particularly those with
unsustainable business models — embrace their past; recalibrate; and boldly
pursue new, industry-changing paths to reduce impact and move toward a
net-positive future, we all benefit.
Get the latest insights, trends, and innovations to help position yourself at the forefront of sustainable business leadership—delivered straight to your inbox.
Published Apr 9, 2021 11am EDT / 8am PDT / 4pm BST / 5pm CEST