CVS' Marketing Chief Says Phasing Out Tobacco 'Helped Prove the Company's Purpose'

Norman de Greve talks wellness

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When Norman de Greve joined CVS Health, the company's plans to phase out tobacco, effectively losing $2 billion in annual revenue to become a major player in the health care field, were already rolling. That, of course, was part of the reason he wanted to join. For de Greve, tobacco hits home: He lost his father to lung cancer when he was just 7 years old. 

Now, two-and-a-half years later, CVS Health has helped drop tobacco sales by one percent across all retailers and proved its purpose of "helping people on their path to better health," de Greve told attendees, while speaking at the Masters of Marketing Conference in Orlando today.

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