Ceylon Tobacco Company - Our purpose and strategy
The BAT Group set out an inspiring purpose for our business when our Group’s evolved strategy was launched in 2020.
A clear corporate purpose
Our purpose is to build a better tomorrow by reducing the health impact of our business through offering a greater choice of enjoyable and less risky products for our consumers.
We will evolve our growth model through the development of our portfolio in tobacco, nicotine and beyond, meeting our consumers’ evolving needs for enjoyment and satisfaction.
While cigarettes will be at the core of our business for some time to come, we aim to generate an increasingly greater proportion of our revenue from products other than cigarettes and so reduce the health impact of our business.
Our animation below explains more about our commitment to building A Better Tomorrow :
Acting responsibly
As a leading multinational business, we understand our global impact, the importance of high standards of integrity and our evolving societal responsibilities. As a result, we are moving from a business where sustainability has always been important, to one where it is front and centre in all that we do.
- For our consumers , we want to offer a range of enjoyable and responsibly marketed products in tobacco, nicotine and beyond.
- For society, we aim to reduce the health and environmental impacts of our business.
- For our suppliers and customers, we want to raise standards for everyone across our value chain.
- For our employees, we want to create a dynamic, inspiring and purposeful place for them to work.
- And for our shareholders, we want to deliver superior and sustainable returns.
Meeting consumer needs
Today, we see new opportunities to capture consumer moments which have, over time, become limited by societal and regulatory shifts, and to satisfy evolving consumer needs and preferences.
So we have evolved our strategy to put a sharper focus on delivering a step change in New Categories, fuelled by investment from the continued delivery of our traditional tobacco business.
Our evolved strategy is about anticipating and satisfying the ever-evolving consumer: providing pleasure, reducing risk, offering increasing choice and stimulating the senses of adult consumers worldwide.
BAT will satisfy consumer needs through a focused portfolio of products that offer sensorial enjoyment for a variety of moods and moments. We will build fewer, stronger global brands.
This strategy is underpinned by a unique view of the consumer across our categories, which is increasingly driven by powerful consumer data and analytics.
Find out more about our purpose and strategy below:
Stimulating the senses of new adult generations
Today, we see opportunities to capture consumer moments which have, over time, become limited by societal and regulatory shifts, and to satisfy evolving consumer needs and preferences. Our mission is to anticipate and satisfy this ever-evolving consumer: provide pleasure, reduce risk, increase choice and stimulate the senses of adult consumers worldwide.
Must wins
High Growth Segments
Driven by our unique and data-driven consumer insight platform (PRISM), we will focus on product categories and consumer segments across our global business that have the best potential for long-term sustainable growth.
Priority Markets
By relying on a rigorous market prioritisation system (MAPS), we will focus the strengths of our unparalleled retail and marketing reach, as well as our regulatory and scientific expertise, on those markets and marketplaces with the greatest opportunities for growth.
How we win
Inspirational foresights
As one of the most long-standing and established consumer goods businesses in the world, we have a unique view of the consumer across four product categories, which is increasingly driven by powerful data and analytics. These insights ensure that the development and responsible marketing of our products is fit to satisfy consumer needs.
Remarkable innovation
As consumer preferences and technology evolve rapidly, we rely on our growing global network of digital hubs, innovation super centres, world-class R&D laboratories, external partnerships and an upcoming corporate venturing initiative to stay ahead of the curve.
Powerful brands
For over a century, we have built trusted and powerful brands that satisfy our consumers and serve as a promise for quality and enjoyment. We will focus on fewer, stronger and global brands across all our product categories, delivered through our deep understanding and segmenting of our consumers.
Connected
Few companies can claim over 150 million daily consumers, over 11 million retail points of sale, as well as a network of expert and skilled employees around the world. Staying connected to all of them, especially through digital means (including e-commerce), ensures better consumer connections, access to markets and innovations that offer sensorial enjoyment and satisfy consumer needs.
People and partnerships
Our highly-motivated people are being empowered through a new ethos that is responsive to constant change, embodies a learning culture and is dedicated to continuous improvement. But we cannot succeed on our own, and our partnerships with farmers, suppliers and customers are also key for ensuring sustainable future growth.
US focus
The United States comprises nearly half of our global business. It is also the single largest economy in the world, the largest single centre for technology and the key driver of global consumer trends, and is where we have the deep consumer understanding and financial strength to support the delivery of our mission to stimulate consumer senses around the rest of the world.
A better tomorrow
By stimulating the senses of new adult generations, our purpose is to create A Better Tomorrow for all our stakeholders.
We will create A Better Tomorrow for:
Consumers
By responsibly offering enjoyable and stimulating choices for every mood and every moment, today and tomorrow;
Society
By reducing the health impact of our business by offering a range of alternative products, as well as by reducing our environmental and social impacts;
Employees
By creating a dynamic, inspiring and purposeful place to work; and
Shareholders
By delivering sustainable and superior returns.
Our purpose is to build a better tomorrow by reducing the health impact of our business through offering a greater choice of enjoyable and less-risky products for our consumers.
A key driver to deliver this will be our Ethos – an evolution of our Guiding Principles – which guides behaviours across the entire Group.