Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) has been undergoing a digital transformation journey for the past decade. The prolonged time was taken due to the challenge in communication while simultaneously effectively executing their game plan. Playing a crucial part in the strategy, the heads of the regional IT department are responsible for communicating this company-wide strategy to all global employees.
They had to first break down highly complex transformation strategies and technical implementation steps in all markets before elaborating the procedure into simple and bite-size information for all employees to understand, even those working in non-technical roles. PMI thus sought Nice To Meet You Studio (NTMY) for a solution, and the rest was history.
CLIENT
Philip Morris Internasional
INDUSTRY
DESIGN SERVICE
Background
Heading Towards a Digital-based Future
PMI is a leading international tobacco company. With hundreds of large-scale brands as their subsidiaries, their affiliates extend to several countries across the globe.
For the past decade, they have been committed to digital transformation for two reasons: to protect consumer data and to increase efficiency in their internal operation through IoT, which will positively affect every nook and cranny of the company. To achieve that goal, they devised a very elaborate digital strategy consisting of phases they must go through. The IT department then communicated the digital strategy to the employees. However, with such a massive scale, it’s bound to have challenges and is far from simple.
The Team/Challenge
Against the Insurmountable Wall Called Communication
How can you possibly digitize a massive company such as PMI smoothly in a short time? Some might say it’s a fool’s errand. However, it is possible but obviously extremely challenging. PMI has been working on it for almost a decade, yet they are still unable to fully achieve the goal successfully and effectively.
The most visible challenge is that each one of the employees has varying degrees of understanding when it comes to technology. With that in mind, technical information is not the easiest for everyone to understand, and sometimes it can be overwhelming for them. It is utterly sophisticated, unattractive, and confusing. Furthermore, the strategy is tailored explicitly with PMI’s employees and ecosystem in mind, so the materials are not publicly available on external sources. In other words, this communication channel is the only way to get the message across. Thus, making it a monster task in every way for the IT department to tackle head-on.
Beneath that, a structural challenge also needs to be addressed. PMI’s complex hierarchical structure causes each process step to take much time. Some steps may take up to two years to complete before proceeding to the next.
The Results
Transforming Highly Complex Information into Sizeable Chunks of Infographics
PMI reached out to Nice To Meet You Studio for a solution, hoping that NTMY can help to present the information in an attractive and much less convoluted way to digest for ordinary people. When NTMY stepped in, the material was handed over to be processed and meticulously transformed into infographics that are easy to understand as it leverages the attractive element of design and visual communication.
However, it is not a simple task for NTMY either. There were countless back-and-forths in the process due to the complexity of the material itself. Not to mention that NTMY had to absorb this heavily technical and in-depth crafted information before breaking them down part by part. Then, ultimately transforming them into sizable chunks and then presenting it in the form of aesthetically pleasing and easily digestible infographics in a short time.
The Results
A Decade Worth of Effort Made Simple through Infographics
Rome wasn’t built overnight. With 69,600 employees spanning almost 100 affiliates in every corner of the world, it takes a lot of effort to convey a message to ensure the strategy goes accordingly. In addition, each region’s employees have different levels of understanding of technical information.
As a result, even a non-technical employee in PMI can understand highly technical information and can now play a part in the company’s digital transformation journey. Moreover, they now can operate it like second nature to them. It was made possible through NTMY’s aid in transforming the materials into digestible infographics.
