MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Reflecting its long-standing commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Globe Group is participating in the UN’s “Vision 2045,” a campaign that features documentary films about how businesses from around the world are taking collective action for a better global future.
In its documentary, the Globe Group’s senior leaders talk about the company’s purpose-led transformation – innovating with compassion, care, and kindness to deliver life-enabling services to Filipinos.
Globe Group President and CEO Ernest Cu looked back at how Globe transformed from telco to “techco,” turning the business around from a far-second player when he came in 2008 to an industry-leader and game changer. Behind this success is Globe’s mission to serve.
“Key to every telecom company is the quality of its network infrastructure. A good network spells a good service experience for our customers. We brought the Filipino and introduced to the Filipino the concept of what a smartphone was. This brought about a new age of data, which in turn spelled partners and new life-changing experiences. We then asked ourselves ‘what was next?’ We decided that we would become a purpose-led company,” said Ernest.
Globe Group Chief Commercial Officer Issa Guevarra-Cabreira shared how Globe’s expansion is rooted in the company’s desire to help enrich and enable the digital life of its prepaid users, the bulk of Globe’s customer base, through greater access.
“Speaking to customers, I realized that prepaid users — the vast majority of whom come from the lowest socio-economic brackets — had the same desire for innovation as everyone else and, arguably, an even greater need for digital enablement. Thus we began to explore how we could make it financially feasible for Filipinos to access the benefits of the internet,” Issa said.
Globe’s transformation was further accelerated by the pandemic, when many day-to-day transactions and activities swiftly shifted to online platforms. In the midst of the crisis, Globe’s platforms shone through as life savers. There’s GCash, the country’s #1 financial services app, which enabled convenient digital payments, fund transfers, and even provided options for a savings account, investments and a credit line to those in need. KonsultaMD, the Globe Group’s telehealth app, meanwhile, provided accessible doctor consultations when Philippine hospitals and their personnel were stretched beyond capacity.
“We came into the pandemic as a company and came out as a group of companies. We are now shifting to become a digital solutions platform and have seen incredible success in bringing pioneering tech-enabled services that address Filipinos’ needs. Our goal is to continuously grow and fortify the Globe Group by providing more products and services that can address the daily struggles of Filipinos through digital solutions,” said Ernest.
As it continues to grow, the Globe Group is on the constant lookout for startups from around the world with an aligned vision for the future and a mission to make positive change. Through its venture capital firm Kickstart Ventures, Globe has been supporting companies that tackle some of the world’s biggest problems, from food security to pollution, among others.
“We are very conscious of our role on this planet, of our responsibility to keep delivering life-enabling solutions. Our hope is that by partnering with these companies, we can work towards much more ambitious goals, bigger solutions and tackling bigger problems that perhaps on our own we won’t be able to address,” said Minette Navarrete, President of Kickstart.
The bedrock of Globe’s expansion and transformation is its core telco business, where it continues to operate sustainably. Globe was the first publicly-listed Philippine-based company to commit to setting science-based targets and was recently recognized by Standard Insights as the Most Sustainability-Driven Network Operator in the Philippines. The company was also included as one of Asia Pacific’s Climate Leaders in a list developed by the Financial Times and Global Market Research Firm, Statista.
Key to this are its efforts to green its network and supply chain, and push for greater energy efficiency across its operations. As Issa said: “We are working on taking our network beyond reliability to sustainability. We continue to green our network operations as part of our net zero strategy.”
Even as it expands to new business horizons, Globe is committed to creating positive societal impact. Through its flagship campaign, The Hapag Movement, Globe aims to address involuntary hunger through supplemental feeding and livelihood programs, leveraging a network of partners and the power of digital platforms.
With this holistic approach to driving solutions while grounded on its commitment to serve, Globe is living up to its purpose.
“This is how we will help the Philippines become a country, where family’s dreams come true, businesses flourish and the nation is admired,” said Cu.
