Previous Nominations of
SFS Team Recognition Award - Second Edition

Launching nicotine pouches

Launching nicotine pouches

Since 2020 the nicotine pouch category has been growing rapidly in Austria (about 30% YoY), propelled by the menthol ban on cigarettes. BAT and Imperial were one of the first movers in the category (Velo & Skruf) and have been dominating the market with a combined SoS of about 80%. Nicotine pouches is the one of the largest RRP categories in Austria and is predicted to continue to grow over the coming years, and the AG Snus acquisition allowed us to capitalize on this opportunity.   

The challenge on launching the P5 category was assigned to the PMO team. Agate, the PMO lead, was assigned as the project manager, leading a cross functional market team of 25 people that managed to launch Shiro within 6 months from project kick off.  

Members

  • Project Story

During the project, the PMO team was still new in the market. Agate, had taken over the PMO lead position in September, Agi joined the team in October, and Tania in December. The Project was kicked off in October with the IMS in March 2022.  

As the AG Snus acquisition took place in May 2021, a lot of work had to be done on category level to re-formulate the product, scale up the production capabilities, as well as establish a global brand framework and image (e.g. no toolboxes were officially released until 2 weeks before launch). Thus, both the local project of Shiro launch in Austria and the global developments happened at the same time. During the project the local market team collaborated closely with the global team, and Austria was selected to be one of the design markets for Shiro globally during the project. This was the key challenge that the team had to face, as together with the global and regional teams we were “building the plane as we were flying it”. Navigating the uncertainty and keeping the local organization and project team engaged and motivated during this time was not an easy task.  

Launching a new project category and managing the project with this level of complexity was time intensive, thus Agi and Tania had to step up in their roles to support Agate while Shiro launch project was ongoing. This meant that they not only continued to support other projects ongoing in the market, but also took over the full responsibility for prioritization, governances, and resource allocation.  

Overall, the local cross-functional market team did a phenomenal job of launching Shiro in Austria with Agate as the project manager. Shiro was launched in Austria on March 15, 2022, the project closed on time, within budget and scope. At the same time Agi and Tania stepped up to the challenge and ensured all PMO activities continue running without interruption during this time. 

  • Focus Area

  • Benefit & Impact

  • Increase Revenue

Previous Nominations of
SFS Team Recognition Award - First Edition

Launching nicotine pouches

Launching nicotine pouches

Since 2020 the nicotine pouch category has been growing rapidly in Austria (about 30% YoY), propelled by the menthol ban on cigarettes. BAT and Imperial were one of the first movers in the category (Velo & Skruf) and have been dominating the market with a combined SoS of about 80%. Nicotine pouches is the one of the largest RRP categories in Austria and is predicted to continue to grow over the coming years, and the AG Snus acquisition allowed us to capitalize on this opportunity.   

The challenge on launching the P5 category was assigned to the PMO team. Agate, the PMO lead, was assigned as the project manager, leading a cross functional market team of 25 people that managed to launch Shiro within 6 months from project kick off.  

Members

  • Project Story

During the project, the PMO team was still new in the market. Agate, had taken over the PMO lead position in September, Agi joined the team in October, and Tania in December. The Project was kicked off in October with the IMS in March 2022.  

As the AG Snus acquisition took place in May 2021, a lot of work had to be done on category level to re-formulate the product, scale up the production capabilities, as well as establish a global brand framework and image (e.g. no toolboxes were officially released until 2 weeks before launch). Thus, both the local project of Shiro launch in Austria and the global developments happened at the same time. During the project the local market team collaborated closely with the global team, and Austria was selected to be one of the design markets for Shiro globally during the project. This was the key challenge that the team had to face, as together with the global and regional teams we were “building the plane as we were flying it”. Navigating the uncertainty and keeping the local organization and project team engaged and motivated during this time was not an easy task.  

Launching a new project category and managing the project with this level of complexity was time intensive, thus Agi and Tania had to step up in their roles to support Agate while Shiro launch project was ongoing. This meant that they not only continued to support other projects ongoing in the market, but also took over the full responsibility for prioritization, governances, and resource allocation.  

Overall, the local cross-functional market team did a phenomenal job of launching Shiro in Austria with Agate as the project manager. Shiro was launched in Austria on March 15, 2022, the project closed on time, within budget and scope. At the same time Agi and Tania stepped up to the challenge and ensured all PMO activities continue running without interruption during this time. 

  • Focus Area

  • Benefit & Impact

  • Increase Revenue

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