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Takeaways from Sustainable Brands: How Vinyl Industry Anticipates Coming Changes
My family and I shop at our local CVS drug store several times a month, due to its location near our home. It’s a regular stop when we run errands on the weekend. Several months ago, I noticed when CVS stopped selling cigarettes. But I didn’t think much about how the CVS leadership decided to stop selling such a profitable product like tobacco.
I recently learned how this decision was made when I attended a Sustainable Brands conference session titled “The Big Pivot: When & How Companies Choose to Eschew Business as Usual.” One of the speakers was Joann Dwyer, Senior Director CSR of CVS Health Foundation, and I was surprised at how CVS transformed itself.
Their leadership saw the coming demographic changes with an aging population and made the transformational decision to become a health care company. CVS Health is now “a pharmacy innovation company helping people on their path to better health.” They decided they weren’t going to be a retailer or a pharmacy–they’re going to be a health care provider. And with that fundamental shift, it was easy to eliminate tobacco. It was easy to decide to open Minute Clinics in their stores. It was easier to make changes once leadership focused on that one guiding definition of their company and their mission pivoted.
I think about this transformation at CVS, as the Vinyl Institute is in the midst of creating our next 4-year strategic plan. Our leadership is hard at work uncovering guiding principles, listening to problems that are keeping members up at night, and anticipating future hurdles. We are thinking ahead – collaborating–trying to solve problems on the horizon.
Our 4-year strategic plan might not be as transformational as CVS, but it certainly is focused on our strategic road map. Where are we today? Where do we want to be in 4 years? How do we get there?
I’m excited about these strategic conversations and looking forward to unveiling this new strategic plan at our Vinyl Institute annual meeting this November.
And if you have thoughts on our road map, don’t hesitate to let us know by replying to his post. We value feedback from the entire vinyl value chain.