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Bertrand Bonvin, President Heat Not Burn, Philip Morris International, shares insight on what is behind their success, what they offer to consumers and innovations that bring a smoke-free future.

In Q3 of 2023 PMI reported the number of Heat Not burn product users 24,7 million, what stands behind this success?

We're always trying to provide smoker with an alternative. We're actually super-careful with the way we are running the business. And with our Heat Not Burn (HnB) products it's simpler, because we have control of who we sell the product to. So, with age verification our importunity is to onboard the smokers properly. We are definitely verifying the age and I think this phase is super-important.

The role for us is to help people to go through transition, because people are used to cigarettes and it's difficult for them to quit. I think we spend a lot of energy to onboard people properly on this issue, so, they understand it's a new device.

At the beginning, if we are not able to communicate, people are actually more afraid to use this than a cigarette, which is orders of magnitude more toxic.. So, we are bringing the understanding, that it is different for good reason, the taste is different for good reason and because it doesn't burn, it doesn't have to taste the full taste of a cigarette.

I think, that without communication, people are not aware, that better products, better alternatives exist. Although they also need to be reminded that quitting is always the best option. And once smokers are exposed to this information , they are not converted, and it's like any change we do in life, it takes a bit of an effort. But then we are appreciative of the change we've made.

I can also tell, that the market is very different from country to country. We have some markets, where it's quite frustrating, because you think you have a population, where people smoke, but they're either not aware of an alternative or not believing, that the alternative will work for them.

So, I think the important part of what we are doing is to ensure, that our HnB products are not just products, that we sell, but products, that we sell and onboard the people, hopefully explaining to them as far as it's possible in the country we operate.

In most of the countries, where we're operating, we try to supply the necessary support for the consumer. For example, there are call centers for consumers, because like with any electronic device, sometimes you have things you are not sure. We have an infrastructure, that is helping them to understand the device and we have normally an infrastructure of the direct detail, where we explain the product. We do a proper guided trial and we explain the product.

I think, the large portion of the success is linked with the care, that we do to explain the category of our product, the care, that we do to help people convert it.

And the most important part is, that it's not just a product you buy and use once in a while. The value is really coming, when people are fully switching to it. So, that's a lot of effort, that we are making.

What does ILUMA offer it’s consumers?

ILUMA is our latest device. So, all the feedback of the consumer, that we had in the last 10 days have been included to ease the journey of the consumer.

It's not only one, but actually three devices, that you have with ILUMA. We have a premium device, that we've designed to be our area first. It's the first device, where we try to really push on the sustainability. So, you have the device itself, that is in aluminum. And you have a small holder and a charger. Both the charger and the device are aluminum. So, we have a lot of embedded sustainability in this proposition. And it is from overall device standpoint. The first really customizable device is on consumer electronic. So, we have designed such a device, that gives you ability to actually give a new life to it. We give the opportunity to have device, that is almost like a new every time you change a part of the device itself.

Then we have the main lineup, also two-piece device, as always, with a small holder. Why a small holder? Because from the beginning we saw, that the more awkward the device is for the smokers, the more difficult it is for them to switch. So, if you have a device, that is like this, that you can basically use with a stick, we see it's not difficult for people to adjust, because they are used to an experience, that is small. So, from the beginning we went with a small holder.

We have also introduced the latest innovation, a third device. It's a one-piece device. It also helps us to have a range of the proposition, that covers a price range of a wider audience in the market.

The three of our devices are using the induction technology, because we have seen very fast, that the ultimate simplicity is that you don't have to clean the device. In the previous generation of device you were using tobacco stick and sometimes after the use you had to clean it. So, with this latest innovation, we have actually solved the cleaning, the reliability, longevity of the device, embedded portion of the sustainability.

And if you look at people, that are switching to this generation of device versus the other, we have actually much better conversion out of cigarette.

You are in the meantime creating new products with lots of innovation, lots of investment; would you comment on that?

Now, if you look at the trajectory of what we've introduced, I think ILUMA is really a game changer. And it's a game changer for the current user, for whom it’s more simpler, than previous versions.

As for Your question about what is the best device, that we have. I think the best is definitely the next and the next.

So we are actually working on improvements, we look at pain points. If there is an issue, that consumers are telling you, for example: “I have to clean”, “I stop using it, because of this…” we try to address to that.

And if you're asking what's the best product, I can tell you the best is the one, that today is on the market. I know the development, that we have in the pipeline, and I'm pretty sure, that the next generation will be even better.

How the product is doing in big markets like Japan as an example?

Japan is the market, where we have started from November 2014. If you look at Japan, you’ll see, that our products are spread not only in big cities, but really all over the country. As for Tokyo, the number is close to one third of the market, that has switched.

The portfolio of devices in Japan is slightly different from the portfolio, that you will find in some of the European countries. I think they have the peculiarity of taste, the portfolio is quite high in menthol from the taste perception, but we have actually a very large portfolio. I think they have been the first market launching ILUMA, if I remember well, it was on August 2021. And we are complementing the activity with a lot of new introduction of new tastes, that fit the national preference of the Japanese consumer.

So, their taste differs from the taste of European people?

I think so and right now I'm using japanese product (laughing). There’s a big range of products. If I remember well, we started in Japan with only two variants, one tobacco and one menthol. But seeing increasing consumer demand, we started expanding the range.

So, over those last 10 years, we have expanded the range of our offering to cover wider space and ensure, that every smoker actually has a product, that fits their preference. So, I think, in terms of overall portfolio, it's probably the largest market, that we have.

I'd also like to speak about regulations in different countries.

Can you imagine we’ve people, that every day are using the product, that leads to smoking related disease? And at the same time there're alternatives, that are orders of magnitude less toxic, but we don't tell consumers about it. So, we have a solution, but we cannot tell the consumers, that this product exists. The communication I was talking about is about being able to tell smoker, that there’s a much better alternative, which actually works. If people are not aware, that it exists, the journey of switching to alternatives will not start. Or, if it's very difficult to give the consumers the understanding of alternative, I think the journey will not help the smoker. So, from a regulatory standpoint we really want to have a situation, where we’re able to say, that there is better existing alternative and that we are able to explain it to smokers, so they can try it. And if we could do that at a scale, I think we’ll be more faster in taking people out of smoking. Remember, these products are not risk-free. But it is a much better option than continuing to smoke. I hope people will remember it.