TRENDSETTERS: “Purpose is More Relevant Now than Ever Before” says Mirella Vitale of The ROCKWOOL Group

The Internationalist Trendsetters is written by Deborah Malone, founder of The Internationalist.

Mirella Amalia Vitale, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Communications & Public Affairs at The ROCKWOOL Group admitted early last year that "Everything changed when we aligned around purpose." Today, at a time when everyone's way of living has been challenged and the nature of cities is changing amid an unforeseen pandemic, she emphasizes that "Purpose is more relevant now than ever before."

The ROCKWOOL Group, without question, is one of the world's most extraordinary and truly sustainable companies. As a global leader in the manufacture of stone wool building materials, it is of critical interest to architects, builders, and homeowners. ROCKWOOL's non-combustible products are of great importance to high-rise dwellers and office tower workers, particularly as the world has witnessed several tragic and greatly publicized building fires over the last several years. The company's diverse brands ensure state-of-the art insulation, protect against fire and water damage, reduce noise pollution, and provide human comfort and wellbeing.

The ROCKWOOL Group, without question, is one of the world's most extraordinary and truly sustainable companies. As a global leader in the manufacture of stone wool building materials, it is of critical interest to architects, builders, and homeowners. ROCKWOOL's non-combustible products are of great importance to high-rise dwellers and office tower workers, particularly as the world has witnessed several tragic and greatly publicized building fires over the last several years. The company's diverse brands ensure state-of-the art insulation, protect against fire and water damage, reduce noise pollution, and provide human comfort and wellbeing.

In our conversation, we discuss the following:

• How marketing makes a difference to ensuring that purpose works.
• The next frontier for purpose in terms of measurement.
• How sustainability has been disrupted in the advent of COVID-19.
• Ways in which marketing has taken on more of the sales funnel is a digital age.
• The role of the C-Suite in driving a purpose mission. 

Mirella Vitale is a true internationalist. Italian by birth, she studied foreign languages and literature in Bari University, Italy with continuing professional education in a High-Performance Leadership Program at IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland. She joined ROCKWOOL in a new Group Management position in February 2016 just after the company announced their ambitious business transformation program.  She was uniquely suited for this position after spending 15 years in the alternative energy field working for market-leader Vestas Wind Systems in various leadership roles in Italy, Spain, and Denmark.

The ROCKWOOL Group, with a head office location near Copenhagen, Denmark, was founded in 1909, and its insulation production started in 1937. ROCKWOOL Group operations have a large presence in Europe and Russia, and a rapidly growing position in North America; they now have over ten-thousand employees in 37 countries in their effort to support customers worldwide.

Stone wool, the source of ROCKWOOL products, is a versatile material made from a natural and abundant resource – volcanic rock, which is comprised largely of basalt and chalk and in abundant supply throughout the world.  It is created by melting the rock at high heat, and then blowing it into a spinning chamber to create cotton-candy-like fibres. Applications for stone wool include ROCKWOOL's thermal insulation, filtration, soundproofing, and even a hydroponic growth medium.  And it is entirely recyclable and reusable upon disposal.