Agility will be the name of the game for communicators moving ahead: Tommaso Di Giovanni

As a manufacturer of tobacco products, Philip Morris International is committed to engaging adult smokers and sparking debate about change, corporate transformation and public health. exchange4media spoke to Tommaso Di Giovanni, Vice President – International Communications, to find out more. 

Di Giovanni is an experienced and solutions-oriented global business and communications executive known for leading transformative strategies and programmes at local, regional and global levels. His diverse experience spans corporate, government and regulatory affairs, business development and economics/statistics. He ensures robust communications frameworks and thorough measurement systems to ensure tangible, quantifiable results that positively impact the business. 

Excerpts: 

How has your 22-year-stint with Philip Morris International been so far? What are some of the key learnings you have had? 

My journey spans over two decades across different departments and regions. I am originally a business developer but later moved into communications. I have also had the opportunity to be a part of regulatory affairs, post which I moved back into communications. 

As I look back, it has been a rewarding yet fulfilling journey at PMI. I would look at it in two phases. In the first phase, our focus was only reactive communications because of our business and industry we operate in. In the second phase, post 2013, we at an organisation level decided to go all out to disrupt our own business. 

We realised, through science and technology, we can develop a portfolio of reduced risk, better alternatives to cigarettes for adult smokers. Science, innovation and technology have paved the roadmap for the world with improvements in public health. Over the past decade and more, PMI has been committed to a complete transformation of the organisation, disrupting its age-old business towards a smoke-free future. PMI is steering a visionary course, developing a portfolio of reduced risk, better alternatives to smoking – which we believe can achieve the global aim of harm reduction. 

In 2016, we formally committed to a smoke-free future. And, since then, we have moved almost 25 million adults in 73 markets to our better products. Our overarching ambition is to have a net positive impact on the world; and we are moving closer to that goal every day. 

We realised one of the biggest barriers to achieving a smoke- free future is misinformation. That is when my job became extremely interesting as a communicator because if one must drive change, then communication is the key. Our primary objective is to educate adult smokers and spark a debate on change, business transformation and public health. I believe one can have the safest product but if we don’t adopt it, we won’t be able to improve public health. 

From 2016-2018, you were Director – Reduced-Risk Product Communications. Can you please elucidate a little bit about your role and responsibilities in this area? 

This is the phase immediately after the launch of our first heated tobacco product in 2015 in Nagoya, Milan. Between 2016- 2018, we expanded the commercialisation to several other countries. And more importantly, when we saw that the expansion was going well, in 2016, our CEO at the time, André Calantzopoulos announced that our ambition is not only to offer those products, but also to replace cigarettes with these alternatives one day.

As a result, there was a sudden shift – to replace harmful products with the ones that are much better for public health. During this phase, my role as a communicator was making sure that our vision was heard and understood so we are able to accelerate change through constructive, science-based debate. In addition, we wanted to ensure that our product is not only adopted, but countries would consider leveraging it for improving public health. The idea was also to spark a debate amongst scientific community, physicians and to everyone who has a role to play.  

It was during this time that we came up with a simple way to explain what the change is about. We launched an innovative campaign called un-smoke- get out of smoke, do something that is not smoking. It basically outlines that if you don’t smoke then don’t start as that is the best thing you can do for your health; if you smoke then quit, because there's no other perfect solution. But if you don't quit, and most smokers we know don't quit, today there are better alternative in the form of products that do not combust. 

The campaign was launched in 60 countries and gained a lot of traction. There was also some controversy around this, however, it sparked a debate, which is paramount to us. We used integrated communications approach to build awareness among people and encourage them to switch to better alternatives. The campaign was a success, and I am extremely proud of what we did as an organisation. I believe that we contributed to the change. Today, there are better alternatives to smoking that are less harmful.  

To what extent is the communications industry focussing on the increased use of data analytics to drive communications campaigns and achieve the desired impact?  

By background I'm a Statistician and an Economist, so if you ask me, I love data. These days there is a huge focus on data analytics to achieve the desired impact. While I believe every communicator should use data to drive impactful communications campaigns, but as an Economist, I also know that the data doesn't always tell you the full story. Hence, it is important that we use data wisely and in a scientific manner to help us understand if we are moving towards a clear objective and accordingly revise our communications strategy. 

How does the public react to your campaigns and brand promotion, given the adverse effect of tobacco on health?  

At the beginning of our journey, there was skepticism and people did not take us seriously. However, with time, the facts proved the contrary. And that is when we started giving even more precise targets. We have been challenged to come up with better alternatives since the 70s. In the United States, there are also documents from the United Nations Global Compact, where they have challenged us to come up with less toxic alternatives. At the beginning of our journey, most of the people in public health would barely talk to us for obvious reasons; with cigarettes, there's not much to say about public health. But now, I would say a vast majority of people engage with us and our scientists to find ways to accelerate progress. Times have changed dramatically, and I am proud of the way we have engaged over the last few years and will continue to do the same. Because ultimately, this would be a great case of innovation that will improve society at large.  

What role do purpose-driven communications play in the industry? 

I believe purpose is increasingly important. Hence, I feel it is important to inform the internal stakeholders (employees) about their role and how they can contribute to the success of the organisation. Further, while it is important to communicate with employees, at the same time it is very critical to communicate with the external stakeholders about organisation’s values. These days companies are expected to be a driver of positive change.  

We have examples of some of the industries driving change- the food industry has been focussing on replacing products that have a lot of fat or sugar with better alternatives. The automobile industry is moving towards electric cars to reduce pollution and address the issue of scares energy sources. I feel that we have been at the very beginning of this wave of change, and I am proud to be part of this transformation.  

How do you think the communications landscape is changing and what are the trends to watch out for from a global perspective?  

I feel the consideration that I made about purpose will tell you a lot about content. There is more attention given to consistency in every communication; communication that is not too heavy on content, yet impactful. The focus is more on the role of communications in driving societal change. In terms of the communications channels, while digitisation is already playing an important role in communication, I believe new forms of communications are likely to emerge. As we have seen in the past in case of digitisation, the changes can be unexpected and abrupt, I believe agility will be the word of the game for any communicator moving ahead.