Innovate With Us
Innovation, Meet Opportunity
Altria’s tobacco companies have a long history of leading the industry. We're Moving Beyond SmokingTM and Our Vision is to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a smoke-free future. We recognize that no single product would likely satisfy all adult smokers looking for alternatives. As we pursue new avenues for growth, we will build from our strengths and be guided by our Purpose. This is an important opportunity to shape a better future for adult tobacco consumers, our employees, shareholders and society. Learn from our Chief Innovation & Product Officer, Olivier Houpert, how our Purpose guides us.
We’re here to accelerate innovation through close collaboration with top-tier partners like you — helping solve real consumer problems with science-backed solutions.
The Connect + Transform team at Altria is revolutionizing our approach to Open Innovation by curating exclusive networks of top-tier partners like startup founders, investors, academics, inventors and anyone aligned with our unique strategic goals. We're harnessing the full potential of our global Open Innovation ecosystem - spanning from building, buying, partnering and investing - to deliver tangible value and impact all involved in this highly collaborative process.
Connecting the right people with the right experiences allows us to harness the limitless potential of Open Innovation. We’re consumer obsessed and are focused on emerging solutions, products and services that enhance the consumer experience. By combining the power of our consumer obsession with Open Innovation and our collaborative approach, we can activate quickly and accelerate learnings for new consumer solutions.
Some of the Ways we Collaborate with our Partners
Pilot Design & Development
Maximum Impact. We work closely with our partners to design and develop pilots with clear learning hypotheses. We then define and develop the elements required to test and validate the pilot concept.
Solution Testing & Evaluation
Actionable Results. Once the pilot is designed, we move right into the solution testing phase by doing a live, in-market test. Pilot incubation and analysis of data and learnings drive program evolution.
Strategy Evolution & Refinement
Scalable Insights. We capture all the insights, next steps and resources needed to move from pilot program to a scaled solution.
Altria's Global Innovation Network
Our Open Innovation approach is collaborative, decentralized and leverages external sources of ideas, technology and expertise from around the world — combined with our robust internal resources — to create, capture and accelerate innovations to improve the consumer experience.
Innovation Partnerships
We believe that collaboration fuels innovation, which is why we’re looking to partner with innovative minds around the globe to deliver revolutionary solutions to everyday consumers.
Whether your focus is on ecommerce or in-store, developing technology or optimizing the supply chain, we can help turn your innovative concepts into real-world solutions that make a real impact for the better.
Innovation Opportunities
We’re currently seeking innovation partners in the business cases listed below. We encourage you to explore these specific areas of need and submit your idea should any of your innovative solutions fill those needs.
Please make your submission as detailed as necessary without sharing any confidential information. After an initial review by our vendor, your submission may ultimately be reviewed by the Altria team. If Altria takes an interest in your submission, you will be contacted and likely asked to enter into a confidentiality agreement.
When you click the submit idea button, you'll leave altria.com and be transferred to the Altria Open Innovation Portal with its own privacy and terms of use.
Incorporate novel and future "on device" technologies that provide authorization/verification of the consumer before and/or during the consumption of the product.
Reduce the environmental impact of disposable vape devices. Provide solutions that are environmentally sustainable, widely available and a cost-effective means of collecting, destroying and/or recycling disposable vapor products or their electronic components.
Understand the technology and solution landscape and identify potential partners to accelerate exploratory learning in the Optimized Self opportunity area.
Provide a solution that helps consumers better achieve their optimized self. Relevant domains may include existing and new products, ingredients, services and technologies. Relevant focus areas include, but are not limited to stress, relaxation, focus, wellness and vitality.
Provide a solution that helps consumers manage their personal energy needs. Relevant domains may include existing and new products, ingredients or services that help consumers with daily energy management.
Identify low cost technologies that can motivate behavior change, specifically device and digital solutions that trigger behaviors to improve wellness.
Build superior products and services by leveraging a connected device technology that creates delightful adult tobacco user experience and meets regulatory requirements and expectations.
Innovative ways to incorporate nicotine into products for adult tobacco consumers that continue to support reduced risk efforts to transition adult smokers to a smoke-free future.
Improve delivery and release of flavors and ingredients to mitigate unwanted sensory responses.
Propose a technology and/or solution that will create new or improve product formulations to provide superior benefits that enhance adult nicotine consumer satisfaction and enjoyment.
Identify novel materials, technologies, and consumer-centric designs that can be applied to HTPs to deliver a satisfying sensory experience.
- Who manages the open innovation portal?
Altria Client Services, an affiliate of parent company Altria, has subcontracted yet2 to facilitate the idea submission process. Specifically, they will:
- Assist you in submitting your ideas and proposals
- Remind you that your submission is not treated as confidential and to verify that you have not submitted confidential information at this stage
- Review your submission against criteria provided by Altria to eliminate the risk of jeopardizing ongoing Altria research activities
- Ensure that we provide feedback in a timely fashion
- What happens after I submit an idea?
When you Submit an idea and enter this Idea Submission Portal, you will be asked to complete a "Submitter Information Form" including your contact details, a non-confidential overview of your solution and your agreement to the terms and conditions of submission and the Privacy Notice. yet2 will review your details and evaluate the solution on behalf of Altria within the portal.
- What information does my submission need to include?
Contact information is essential for us to follow up on your idea. The submission form must also provide an overview of the proposed solution, with the understanding that your submission will not be treated as confidential. You only need to send us an outline of your proposal at this stage, describing how it works in a general technical sense and what the benefits would be. If you have a published or granted patent, that will normally be a sufficient description, and you can simply provide us with the details of the published patent/application.
- Do I have to be at least 21 years old to submit an idea?
Yes, Altria has chosen to work only with individuals over the age of 21 for their open innovation portal.
- Who decides if my submission is of interest to Altria?
yet2 will review your "Submitter Information Form" in relation to criteria provided by Altria to decide if your solution fits the current needs of Altria. yet2.com will follow up directly with you via email or phone to inform you of the status (i.e. no further action, more details required, of interest for further discussion, etc).
- How long will it take for my submission to be reviewed? What are the stages?
On submitting your "Submitter Information Form", you will receive an email confirming that the submission has been received, and you will be provided with a unique idea submission identification number. Contact will then be made within five working days to inform you of the status of your submission. The possibilities may include:
- Reject - solution does not meet criteria
- Under further review
Additional stages may apply; you may be contacted directly by yet2 for the following:
- Further details are required to clarify information provided
- Solution is under review in Altria
- Solution is of interest and a Confidential Disclosure Agreement is required
- Is there a reward for submitting my innovation?
There will be no reward for your submission in the initial stages. However, if Altria decides to pursue a submission, they will contact you directly.
- Is only non-confidential information required?
Throughout the submission process, we ask only for non-confidential information, as your submission will not be entitled to protection as confidential. It is your responsibility to ensure that your submission does not breach any confidentiality obligations that you owe to others. If confidential information is required at a later stage to explain the submission, you may request to enter into a non-disclosure agreement with Altria prior to you sharing any confidential information.
- Do I have to accept the idea submission portal terms and conditions and the privacy policy?
Yes, these are created to protect you and your rights, and also eliminates the risk of jeopardizing Altria and its affiliates' ongoing research programs, projects and developing concepts.
- If I have more than one submission, will I have to agree to the idea submission portal terms and conditions and the privacy policy for each submission?
Yes.
- Do I have to have intellectual property protection? (patents applied for or filed)
The decision to protect your idea is your responsibility and you should consider this decision prior to submitting your idea. Ideally, your idea will be protected by granted or applied-for patents. However, Altria is willing to discuss early stage ideas either before a patent filing has been made or before it has been published. If you have not filed for patents yet, you should not disclose any information that jeopardizes your rights to file patents, and we advise you contact legal counsel prior to submission.