IQOS
The Operating Model Behind a Global Product Ecosystem
Overview
What I Did
As account and program lead for IQOS, I ran a multi-discipline product account on a five-phase, six-gate innovation framework. I built the PMO that brought hardware, accessories, CMF, packaging, brand and digital into one integrated plan, and the studio later adopted it as its standard way of working. Across multiple product generations, that structure helped grow the IQOS portfolio from three to seven product lines and earned six Red Dot Awards.
Scope of the Ecosystem
My Role
Client Director, Account Director, Program Lead
Core Disciplines
The Challenge
Philip Morris International was at a crossroads: keep making a product it knew was harmful, or invest in better alternatives as part of a new vision for a smoke-free future. IQOS was at the center of that shift, a premium lifestyle brand that had to win over adult smokers through design, experience and trust.
Every product touched industrial design, accessories, CMF, packaging, brand, retail and digital. Each moved from research through manufacturing to global launch, and several product platforms and generations were in development at once. The portfolio launched more than 500 SKUs, and every new one had to fit an ecosystem that consumers experienced as a single brand.
The team was across two continents: a studio of 30+ designers, strategists and program managers in San Francisco, and an embedded team working on site with the client in Switzerland. As account and project lead, I oversaw these integrated teams and drove an experience-led approach across the full ecosystem of hardware, software, services and physical environments. Making that work at this scale took more than good project management; it took an operating model.
The Operating Model
Every initiative on the account, from a new device platform to a packaging update, ran on the same Innovation Framework, an end-to-end process built around how PMI planned and brought innovation to market. Five phases, each answering one question:
Opportunity Definition: "This is the opportunity."
Experience Definition: "This is our solution to the opportunity.
Experience Design: "This is how we make it tangible through design."
Detailed Experience Design: "This is how we make the design a reality."
Go-to-Market Preparation: "This is how we deliver it to consumers."
Six gates separated the phases, each gate a cross-functional decision for Go/No-go. Any new opportunity that surfaced along the way started as a new project instead of quietly expanding the scope of an existing one.
I mapped the studio's own design process (evolving it where necessary) onto the framework and the client's engineering stages, uniting design, engineering and business decisions.
Integrated Program Plan
Every discipline kept its own process while mapping to the same phases, gates and dates, so all workstreams moved as one product.
Building the PMO
A framework is only as good as the way it's run, so I built a model that unified every function into one plan:
Clear Ownership
A roles matrix named an owner for every workstream on every platform, so nothing fell between teams.
Risk & Dependency Mapping
Worked with PMI leads and department heads to track cross-functional dependencies both for the PMI and agency teams. Slippage in one area was immediately recognized and mitigated in another.
Capacity Modeling
I modeled resourcing & capacity across the San Francisco and Swiss teams, as part of our larger scenario planning to ensure roadmap and planning activities had the best data.
Gate Readiness
The PMO prepared every gate review, so decisions were made once, with the right people and information in the room.
One source of truth
Product
IQOS 3
IQOS 3 Duo
IQOS 3 Multi
IQOS ILUMA Prima
ILUMA One
ILUMA i
Product Strategy
Multi-generational roadmapping and product planning
CMF Design
Across every product device
Each device had 8 customization options
500+ unique SKUs
Brand & Packaging Design
Across every product device
Digital
IQOS Website
Iluma Connected App
Youth Access Prevention
From Account to Studio
The PMO proved itself on IQOS, and the studio adopted its governance, planning and reporting as the standard way to run its work.
Each project was carried by a single brief that gained detail at every gate. Teams never worked from conflicting documents, and new stakeholders could get up to speed from one place.
The framework also flexed to the shape of the work; 16 months product revolution, a new product category, the connected app, an e-commerce packaging system blending definition and design.
Impact
3 to 7 product lines, each with multiple generations
Surpassed over $20B+ in revenue globally
6 Red Dot Awards for design excellence
Enterprise grade PMO adopted studio-wide as the standard operating mode
Financial Stewardship
I rebuilt the account's financial model into a single source of truth for scope, budget, forecasting and revenue recognition; a model representing over $30MM+ annually.