Author: Michael Best IPMS Chief Expert.
Principal Expert of EASON Best IPMS.
Zachary Best IPMS Consultant.
Integrated Product Marketing and Sales (IPMS).It is a set of TOC marketing management tools, architecture, and ideas that have been proven by Huawei's practice, and it is a company-level integrated combat system that supports GTM.
IPMS is developed based on the integrated idea of IPD, and is deeply interlocked with IPD, realizing the two-way empowerment and two-wheel drive of the product side and the market side, and jointly promoting the growth of enterprise performance.
IPMS provides enterprises with a scientific C-end marketing and sales model. By streamlining and systematizing workflows in various areas, companies are able to better coordinate the work between various departments and turn departmental success into corporate success. This kind of cross-domain and multi-level visual operation enables enterprises to "come from demand and go to demand", respond quickly, and improve the company's market competitiveness.
In the early days of the 2C transformation, Huawei was still stuck in the 2B business thinking and process. However, at that time, the mobile phone market was surrounded by wolves. The high-end market is completely occupied by Apple and Samsung, and other mobile phone manufacturers such as Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo are squeezed. Huawei's previous successful experience in the 2B market is completely unable to cope with the competition in the 2C market.
Huawei's Hainan Sanya meeting repositioned its terminal business and put forward the core strategy of "high-end, open market, and consumer-oriented", which decided to transform the 2B business into a 2C business. In order to solve the problem that Huawei's 2B gene is not suitable for the C-end market, the company's leaders have widely introduced "people who understand" from Nokia and Samsung to join in to jointly build a business system that can help Huawei's 2C business development.
In the introduction stage, this business system introduces the GTM (Go-to-Market) system, which has been maturely applied by foreign companies. By setting up a "baton" for each product, the GTM system helps Huawei's end products find someone who can take responsibility for the product's commercial success, that is, the GTM manager. However, the GTM system imported from outside Huawei is inevitably a bit unsuitable for Huawei. For example, at the company level, there may be departmental walls, and GTM managers are slow and resource-hungry. At the product level, if a GTM manager suddenly changes jobs, it is difficult to carry out the handover of the product.
Therefore,Huawei has continuously iteratively optimized the GTM system, solidifying the responsibilities of GTM managers through processes, and becoming the current IPMS system. Through the IPMS business system, the project management function of GTM managers is streamlined and systematized. In addition, through the control of review points and decision-making points, the IPMS business system has pushed the creation of continuously hot-selling products from chance to necessity. At the same time, the creation of popular products also reduces the dependence on individuals, making the company's management move from the rule of man to the rule of law.
In a sense, IPMS has made Huawei's consumer business a reality. Huawei's terminal shipments increased eightfold to 2400 million units, effectively supporting Huawei's strong growth in the past decade. This series of achievements is largely due to Huawei's IPMS business system as the core of its products.
Overall, IPMS brings at least three major values to Huawei.
First, IPMS has made it clear how to be consumer-centric.
At the beginning, Huawei has always focused on products and neglected the market, focusing only on how many difficulties the product has overcome in terms of technology, and rarely caring about what consumers really want. This has led to products such as Huawei P1, P2, Mate1, and Mate2, which are not paid for by consumers despite their excellent technology. Through the IPMS approach, Huawei is able to better understand consumer needs and design and launch products that are more in line with market needs. This consumer-centric philosophy has made Huawei's end products more popular, which has contributed to the growth of sales.
Second, IPMS has established a first-class product system.
This means that marketing has made a leap from the rule of man to the rule of law, and can more effectively manage the life cycle of products, including product design, research and development, production and marketing. This systematic management allows the company to better control the quality and market performance of its products, thereby improving the company's competitiveness.
Third, IPMS clarifies the direction of marketing capacity building.
With IPMS as the main focus, Huawei is able to better understand the market demand and competitive environment, so as to formulate effective marketing strategies. This precise marketing capability enables the company to promote its products to the market more effectively, increase brand awareness and seize market share.
The reason why IPMS can contribute to the success of popular products is that it covers the entire life cycle of a product from idea to consumer purchase, and provides a full range of business and decision support.
1.Selection
Choose the right product to put on the market, and it already has 50% of the explosive product genes. IPMS ensures that products meet market needs and reduces the risk of market failure through detailed consumer insights and internal review control points in the early stage. In addition, the IPMS system takes the cross-departmental team as the core to connect products and markets, align the company's product development with customers' product needs, so as to improve the market adaptability and consumer acceptance of products.
Relying on this set of scientific play, enterprises no longer choose products to market through the personal experience or intuition of the supervisor when selecting products, but support decision-making through scientific analysis logic and market data, thereby reducing the risk of blind decision-making.
2.Pricing:
Pricing is an important part of bringing a product to market. The best of a popular product must be able to make both the enterprise profitable and the consumer have the ability to have a sense of gain. Especially in the context of serious homogenization competition in most consumer goods, consumers are becoming more and more sensitive to products. Refined product pricing can maximize the product** within the consumer's psychological expectations, driving the product to capture more incremental profits.
The IPMS system is based on the principle of competitive pricing, combined with the cost of the product, so that the product can meet the core requirements inside and outside the company. On the one hand, internally, IPMS can both maximize the gross profit of individual products and ensure that they meet the company's contribution profit requirements. On the other hand, externally, IPMS makes the product fully consider the brand influence and competitive landscape, so that consumers feel that they are worth the money.
In addition, the IPMS system fully empowers front-line personnel and links front-line personnel with headquarters, so that headquarters can adapt to market competition conditions through dynamic pricing, thereby increasing the company's profits and market share. As the market environment changes, consumer demand and competitor strategies will have an impact on the pricing of products, and traditional static pricing methods can no longer meet the needs of the market. IPMS can dynamically adjust according to real-time changes in the market environment, respond to changes in consumer psychological expectations and competitors' pricing strategies in a timely manner, and ensure the commercial success of products to the greatest extent.
3.Divide the goods
IPMS can identify the most advantageous and efficient distribution channels based on the analysis of the performance of different channels. By analyzing the data of sales volume, market demand, channel cost, etc., the IPMS business system helps enterprises find the most suitable channel distribution method for themselves, so as to improve sales efficiency and reduce channel distribution costs. As a result, the company's headquarters can better grasp the advantages and disadvantages of various distribution channels, make more scientific decisions, and maximize channel coverage and the effectiveness of distribution turnover.
In addition, IPMS has the characteristics of an integrated combat system, which can enable enterprise headquarters to better understand the changes in front-line market demand and respond quickly to meet the needs of consumers. Through the analysis of market trends and consumer preferences, IPMS can help enterprises better grasp market trends and adjust channel distribution strategies in a timely manner, so as to better meet consumer needs and improve the efficiency and accuracy of channel distribution. Enterprises can also better grasp market opportunities, increase the overall sales of product life cycles, and maximize the economic benefits of enterprises.