DRAFT
REPORT TO THE BOARD OF INFOTAB ON CREDIBILITY
1. Basis of concern
Members of the Board have expressed concern about
credibility as we
understand it under three main headings:
- the primary health issue
- the behaviour of company members to each other
within the industry
- the poor reputation we have, despite being
excellent employers and good
citizens.
2. Origins of the problem
Although the degree of the problem varies from
country to country, basically
the causes of our difficulty appear to be:
- until relatively recently the industry was
silent in the face of an ever
growing attack
- our product
- a poor image of industry in general
- a poor image of the tobacco industry,
particularly as multinationals
- the use of advertising which by many people,
particularly to the left
of centre in politics, is seen as an unjustifiable
expense to the cons=er
3. Symptoms of the problem
Obviously there is a problem both philosophically
and emotionally, but Wee
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wish to highlight the practical aspects of the
problem to ensure that our --0
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recommendations for action are limited to the
things perceived as important --4
by the Board. The following, therefore, seem to be
of practical concern: 110
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- individuals are personally attacked at social
and informal gatherings
- chairmen and directors of companies are attacked
at Annual General
Meetings and similar formal occasion
- Stock Miarket quotations tend to suffer when
smoking issues are raised
- the smoker has a considerably lower social and
status image than 20years
ago
- the smoker is apologetic about the use of our
product
- there are increasing restrictions on where and
when people may smoke
- there is an attempt to associate the industry in
people's minds with
"drugs", "Mafia" etc. particularly in the press
- there are heavy increases in taxes
- recruiting good people to management positions
can be difficult
- there are increasing restrictions on our ability
to promote and advertise
a legal product
4. Inherent limitations
we wish to ernphasise that despite practical
action that can be taken and is
recommended, it is not possible to foresee rapid
changes in our image.
Different member companies see different levels of
potential in dealing with
the problem. The basic limitations preventing any
realistic hope for rapid
results include:
- the historic backlog of some 20years while the
industry said little, if
anything
- the primary health issue combined with legal
constraints CD
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- the highly competitive nature of the industry
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5. Analysis of current and possible activities
Although under 4. above, we have indicated that
rapid results cannot be
expected, two points need to be made strongly :
M much has been done and is being done on which we
can build
(ii) there is scope for change of emphasis and
extra activity
These two principles apply both to the need for
fire-fighting activities and
the need for broader basic long tern work.
Past and current activities on which to build
- Economic Impact studies .
- Research - scientific, social and attitudinal
Community activities
Social and cultural activities
Employee education on smoking issues
The allies programme
Development of materials e.g. CATAC, ACT etc.
Development of argumentation e.g. passive smoking
paper, background
briefing papers etc.
NMA's as central co-ordinators of national
campaign
Scientific workshops primary, passive and other
issues
New action and stronger cmphases
- Public statements by top executives
- Statements about industry as a whole by top
executives of the industry,
industrial organisations (e.g. CBI in the UK)
- Statements about the tobacco industry
- Use of annual reports to reinforce case
- Company employees at all levels joining and
contributing to social
Co
organisations and developments ___J
110
- Further research, particularly on passive
smoking 00
- Development of media contact, particularly the
press
- Preparation of materials to be used by the press
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- Immediate refutation of inaccurate statements by
opponents
- Constant improvement on our statement on the
primary issue
- More compelling statements on passive smoking
- Stronger statements on activities in the Third
World
- More emphasis on economic impact
- Joining Chambers of Commerce and other
organisations which help to promote
the case of industry
- Speaking to medical and scientific leaders of
thought
- Developing the aspects of genuine and defensible
need for smoking socially
and psychologically
- Emphasising the amount of research done both
internally and externally to
underline our concern
- Developing a journal (see separate note by
Ansell Egerton)
- Developing the programme with FAO and Third
World country delegates to FAO
- Developing further economic impact studies in
all countries, even if some of
the studies have necessarily to be limited in
scope
- Developing further the advertising industry as a
spokesman since they
legitimately cover a wide range of products apart
from us without drawing
specifically attention to tobacco
- Following up the implications of the Vitamin A
story
Developing the concept of MRFIT studies
Consulting specialists e.g. social psychologists
about the general image of
industry and particularly large companies both
national and international in
order to get a technical approach to our campaign
(Brian Simpson and
Antonietta Corti are following this line)
Developing health and nutritional studies in
tobacco growing areas in
comparison to non-tobacco growing areas in the
s3me country
Developing a rationale to support our case for
being reasonable, moderate,
concerned members of society and not merely large
scale profiteers (this is
not stating what we are doing but why we should
naturally wish to do it)
Making wide-spread use of the TI of Australia
document "Why more research is
needed"
Developing the News Service of suitable articles
that NMA's can place in the
local press
Developing multi-ministerial committees as far as
possible in any country to CD
make sure that a balanced approach is taken to our
issues. 110
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Research for medical benefits of smoking e.g.
ulcerative colitis, stress
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related conditions etc. cc
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6. Things to avoid
Apart from positive activities, there are also
certain things that the
industry could avoid which can either provoke
attack by our opponents or
damage our image:
- avoid public conflict between companies
- avoid obvious disagreement in discussion with
authority
- avoid provocative action which whilst complying
with the letter of the law
and regulations appears to flout the spirit of
such regulations.
- avoid silence in the event of attack
- do not let blatant inaccuracies pass
unchallenged
- do not contravene or appear to contravene codes
and guidelines for multi-
nationals, such as those from the OECD and the
EEC.
- do not ignore the concern of employees and other
potential allies about
our product and industry; their commitment cannot
be assumed.
7. Conclusions and recommendations
In order to ensure consistency between what
industry says and does, with a
view to creating the needed emphasis on all action
aiming at an improved
credibility, top management policy decisions and
support are essential.
Indeed, in some areas of the corporate world, any
action not directly
relating to short-term profitability might be
considered to be less urgent
and important, and understandably so.
Only a long-term, systematic, regularly reviewed
action plan can yield
favourable results. This includes actions which,
in the short-term do not
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appear profitable, such as carrying out regular
opinion surveys (to
understand the development of trends), investing
in research (to provide a CX:)
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regular flow of findings to counter-balance those
which may reflect
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negatively on the industry), and anticipating
areas where problems may
aris.e, for example, where certain practices may
become restrict'ed by
legislation, or become socially unacceptable.
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There is no simple solution to the credibility
problem. We have lost our
credibilty over a long time. It will take us time
to rebuild it. It is a
question of weaving a complete pattern of
credibility. We have to start to
say things which obviously can be believed. We
have to start doing things,
or continue doing things which are approved of.
Gradually, we will come:
- to be recognised at all
- to be recognised as responsible people
- to be recognised as caring people
- to be recognised as truthful people.
We can prepare more detailed documents which could
form the basis of an
action kit. Before these are further elaborated,
we feel it is important to
have the agreement of the Board on the points
which require special
empnasis. Our recommendations would be:
1. Improve contact with the media and especially
the press
2. Further research sponsored by the industry into
passive smoking
3. Encourage NMA's to do research locally,
particularly of social ,
political and attitudinal topics
4. More public emphasis on the research that we
have already done or
sponsored
S. More emphasis on our contr-bution in the Third
World films, brochures,
etc.
6. Ensure that individual companies publicise
activities which they
undertake.
CZ)
110
7. Member companies should see INFOTAB as a major
catalyst and then CX)
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reinforce and support MMA's with necessary
resources
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8. More statements either through annual reports,
newspaper articles,
magazine articles by Chairmen of companies and
other very seni;~-r
executives about the role of industry in general
and the role 3f the
tobacco industry in particular
9. The avoidance of apparent conflict within the
industry which c--n be
exploited ~y our opponents.
RLOE/DVG
6 July, 1983
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BATCo document for Province of British Columbia 27
October 1999