British American Tobacco is a global consumer goods company with large, distributed field operations. Communication between headquarters, territory managers, and retailers plays a critical role in daily execution, from sharing updates and documents to managing ongoing relationships across regions.
As BAT worked to modernize internal and partner communication, they needed a system that could scale to tens of thousands of users while remaining simple enough for non-technical business teams to operate confidently.
Manual relationships and high-risk broadcasts
Before CometChat, BAT’s communication workflows relied heavily on manual processes. Field relationships between territory managers and retailers were maintained externally, often in spreadsheets, and changes required constant coordination between business teams and IT.
Broadcast communication from headquarters posed an even bigger challenge. Sending messages to thousands of retailers carried compliance and operational risk. There was no clear approval flow, limited visibility into delivery, and no structured way to control who could send, receive, or reply to messages. Business users needed power without complexity, and control without friction.
BAT needed a centralized communication layer that could support bulk relationship management, role-based access, secure broadcasts, and strict governance, all without forcing business teams to become technical experts.
Bulk relationship management with built-in controls
British American Tobacco uses CometChat as the communication backbone for its internal and partner-facing workflows.
Using CometChat’s dashboard and APIs, BAT manages relationships between territory managers and retailers in bulk through CSV uploads. Existing users are mapped at scale, errors are logged at the record level, and relationships are created without disrupting active conversations. This allows business teams to update large assignments quickly while preserving system integrity.
For communication at scale, BAT relies on controlled broadcast messaging from headquarters. Messages can be sent to tens of thousands of retailers as individual deliveries rather than open group conversations, ensuring recipients cannot see or reply to each other. Approval steps, role restrictions, and UI safeguards reduce the risk of accidental sends and help meet compliance expectations.
Custom groups support targeted communication when needed, while role-based permissions ensure that only authorized users can initiate broadcasts, upload documents, or manage groups. Moderation settings, file controls, and environment separation between pre-production and production add additional layers of operational safety.
CometChat’s flexibility allows BAT to align communication workflows with real business hierarchies instead of forcing teams into rigid chat patterns.
Scalable communication without operational anxiety
With CometChat, British American Tobacco replaced fragmented, manual processes with a structured and scalable communication system. Field relationships are easier to manage. Broadcasts are safer to send. Business teams can operate independently without compromising control or compliance.
The result is faster execution, fewer errors, and communication that matches the complexity of BAT’s operations without feeling heavy or fragile.
CometChat handles the complexity quietly, so teams can focus on running the business rather than managing the plumbing behind it.
