Note from Titanium Media: The memoir of "Blue Tower" (originally titled "Blue Tower") is a personal column exclusively authorized by Maggie, a manager of a foreign company for many years. The author, Ms. Maggie, has a career of more than 15 years in foreign companies, and has witnessed the peak and recession of foreign giants in China, and is also one of the witnesses of the wave of layoffs.
The narrative in the column provides a unique perspective and observation of foreign companies in China over the past 20 years, and contains a large number of precious historical photos (all of which have been published with the permission of the parties). Every personal history is a facet that is infinitely close to the real business history. The following is the third article in the "Blue Tower" column (continuously updated): "The Splendor of the Tower: NOKIA 2003-2008 - "Top Management and Strategy"
I am born to be useful, and my daughter will come back when I am gone
If the workplace is compared to the ocean, organizations and companies are all kinds of ships in the ocean. The world's top 500 companies are like aircraft carrier formations, and we who have entered the top 500 are like screws of different sizes, polished and gilded, performing their duties somewhere in the conning tower, cabin or deck, and operating in a glamorous and dignified manner. There is a saying in the "ring messenger" that is very vivid: it seems that everyone is like this, pretentious and insignificant.
诺基亚（昵称诺记）巨塔辉煌的时代，容我借用狄更斯《双城记》开篇的所有前半句，找不到更加贴切的描绘：It was the best of time, it was the age of wisdom, it was the epoch of belief, it was the season of light, it was the spring of hope, we had everything before us！（这是最好的时代，这是睿智的时代，这是充满信仰的时代，这是阳光灿烂的季节，这是充满希望的春季，我们前方无所不有！）
As mentioned in the previous part, local brands such as Bird and TCL comprehensively encircled foreign brands, at that time, MOTO's share was also remarkable, equivalent to left and right attack, Nokie's market share from the third and fourth tier cities was hit, and there is a trend of spreading to the first and second tier cities, the need for change, Colin Giles (Zhao Kelin) came to Beijing, (he once represented the Taiwan team in the same frame of Pinnacle Sales in Switzerland in 2000, when he did not know the true face of Lushan!) ）。 Always believe that heroes make history. If you say, Nokia's global mobile business is Yoma. Colin Giles is undoubtedly the creator of the brilliant achievements of Greater China, and thousands of employees in China are the practitioners.
European and American companies, the core leadership is far away from the headquarters, Noki is far away in the small Nordic country of Finland, as the glossy screw in the aircraft carrier, it is difficult to really understand how this group of big heads have strategic vision and become a giant in the world. In addition, even if the friendship and equality are as promised to foreign companies, the employees are also hierarchical, and the order is roughly as follows: Finland people (no doubt) - > white people in developed countries in Europe and the United States - > non-ferrous metals in developed countries in Europe and the United States - > developed countries in Southeast Asia - >India and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan - > local employees, which is also a bit of a pity for foreign companies to work (it is very exciting that Chinese companies have expanded overseas to become masters today). There are also a small number of non-core employees because of strong communication, extreme luck, excellent business growth into the core of the top management, they have cultivated into the emperor and queen of work, such as "my success can be copied", "flying against the wind" and other inspirational books, in my opinion, the probability of successful replication is low.
Colin is an Australia national, a high-ranking employee, married to a Taiwan wife, and has a keen interest in Asian and Chinese culture. His reorganized management of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southeast Asia and foreigners, as well as the executive level developed in its heyday, took advantage of the right time and place, and with quite down-to-earth tactics and execution, the share of Nuo Kee mobile phone soared into the sky.
Source: Maggie, the once unbeatable N series
Colin has a camera face, a PR smile in front of the media, a 40-degree rise in the corners of the mouth, and a shy affinity, which adds to the brand's charm. Regional colleagues don't see Colin very often, and in our eyes, he is the face of the top of the tower. Because of the phenomenal growth and contribution of Greater China, Colin was promoted to global executive in 2006, but still had half the time in China, and by 2010, he was completely promoted to the Finland headquarters on the top floor of the giant tower. When Colin was in Finland, I once led a government team to visit the company's headquarters, and he was excited and happy to see his "fellow countrymen", and sang a Chinese song "The moon represents my heart" at the Chinese embassy. He also has a skill, he has participated in triathlons, which level and scope is not clear, but he is enough to be called a leader with all-round development of morality, intellect and body.
Colin's luxury management team in Greater China includes David (Deng Yuanjun), who was also a senior executive in the IT industry before joining Nuoji. David had come at a good time, as the Nokean aircraft carrier formation had just set sail at high speed. Unlike foreigners, David is very down-to-earth. At the CMO annual meeting or strategy sharing occasion, David often has an exciting Q&A session with most of the sales and marketing employees from the local area, asking "Can we achieve this goal?" ”；“ Are you confident that you can do it? Let me hear your loud answers! ”；“ We can beat Company M and become the first! The slogans were loud and morale was high, and for a team that was at war, such a style was more local.
In order to beat Company M and become a veritable leader, David really set up an award for the big sales and marketing team to travel to Taiwan. There is a meme of winning for "a bowl of Taiwan beef noodles", that is, on the specified date, the share of Nokian exceeds the XX points of Company M, and the headquarters and regional teams are eligible to participate in the Taiwan incentive trip. In order to win consistently, David also proposed to learn the spirit of the Chinese women's volleyball team for five consecutive championships, for which we simulated volleyball training and games. There is hard work, struggle, challenge, and joy, this style has been throughout David's leadership era, and it is also a particularly good memory for Promise!
Source: Photo provided by David Tang, group photo of some of the teams on the "Taiwan Beef Noodle" incentive tour of Company M, 2006
Even if the headquarters is far away in Finland, it is still a small country with a population of 5 million, because of the contribution and influence of Nokian in China, it will attract the attention and visit of the Chinese government.
In addition to the unrivaled product and the handsome and capable management, what changes has Nuo Kee made in terms of channels and operations to make the market share and brand soar? There's a saying I've always remembered, "Control your own destiny!" Due to the explosive growth of the mobile phone market, China's large market penetration channel has been formed, usually, mobile phone manufacturers are through the state agent, a distribution wholesaler, and then through two or three levels of distribution, in order to reach all levels of cities and even county retail terminal stores, and finally sold to consumers. At the end of the retail market, manufacturers have weak control and lack of interaction with consumers.
Nuo Kee has clarified the "diversified and balanced" channel model, the distribution channel on the basis of retaining the mainstream national generation, the development of FD (Fulfillment Distributor) channel and Go-To-Retail operation model, simply put, is the development of capital logistics platform, we have full control of sell in-sell out, from focusing on customer management, evolution to sales management and retail management, strengthening marketing and sell out, and high-frequency interaction with consumers, Gain the trust and reputation of the brand value.
The channel partners in the early days of the giant tower have become pioneers or martyrs; In the glorious era of the giant tower, the channel partners can not be described as a gorgeous chapter that can be sung and cried, they go forward one after another, carrying hundreds of billions of business volume in the communications industry, that is, to earn huge profits and wealth for themselves and enterprises, but also to achieve personal ambitions and corporate value. Since 2003, Nokian has been working on national agents (ND), national direct supply retailers (NDRP), regional direct supply agents (TDRP), provincial capital logistics platforms (FD), authorized stores (NS), shop-in-shop, WKA/RKA (third- and fourth-tier city distribution), etc., and many professional terms are still familiar today. Of course, there is another important channel that is absolutely unforgettable, and it is also Maggie's main business, and the next article details ODEP (Operator Full Partner)!
The channel change of mainstream brands has industry influence, and the underlying logic based on channel change must be strategy, strategy, strategy! At that time, the strategic goals were clear, and the tactics were easy to understand and executable, which was the charm of high-end strategy. I kept a crucial strategy PPT (a few pages of key information sharing) from July 2005, with a clear direction and firm execution, and it is still a game of chess with a lot of wins. I understand that strategy is about the essence of business, which is excellent products, lucrative profits, high-value brands, loved by consumers, and preferred by business partners!
Source: Maggie, Strategy Sharing PPT, 2005
How good is the performance of strategy execution? Two charts from 2008 are posted, and the following figure shows that Nokia's market share (sales share of 41%, sales share of 39%) is far ahead of the second and third places; Figure 2 below shows the extreme share of the carrier channel (66% share of sales). In the face of data, all explanations are superfluous.
Source: Maggie, GFK report, The blue curve represents NOKIA's sales volume and sales to total market share, 2008
Source: Maggie, GFK report, blue curve represents NOKIA sales volume and sales as a share of China Mobile's market share)
Some old colleagues reminded us to emphasize a boss who has made great contributions to the operator's channel and is also a mentor and friend, Michael Hsu (Xu Peizhen). Michael studied United States came from Taiwan (Taiwan is similar to Europe and the United States, it is a carrier bundle market), he is an expert in the operator channel, and he can be qualified to train the business of operators for three days and three nights, without repetition, at that time, the business model of "Value Selling" and "TOBTOC" planted the seeds in my heart.
Michael joined the China region with Colin, and the personality of the professional elite is quite serious, he rejects people thousands of miles away with pure American English, gives a speech on stage, is polite when meeting customers, and has a sense of distance from customers and colleagues he is not familiar with. "Professional and professional" is his main label, and years later, it is still difficult for me to evaluate whether there are more advantages or disadvantages in the workplace.
When the operator's business is beginning to emerge, a group of account managers who are very familiar with this channel emerge in the headquarters and regions, and with the addition of recruitment, the operator organization is smoothly formed, including product, GTM (go-to-marketing), technical support, headquarters and regional operator account managers, like a decent team. Driven by huge subsidies from operators, Nuoji has customized more than a dozen models according to local conditions, and this channel continues to contribute sales, winning half of the country in the 3G era, with an average market share of 55-60% and a peak of more than 70% (ultra-low-end contribution). If someone asks, what is the most exciting and rewarding part of your long career experience? I would say without hesitation that it is the stage in charge of the operator's business. I have learned to think strategically, to be trusted and empowered, to provide value sales and co-marketing planning to clients, and to quickly implement resources inside and outside the organization, resulting in great business results and personal growth. It is also because of "value selling" that my team and I won the first place in "Global Innovation to Delight Customers", thanks to the cooperation project of China Mobile, all of which we should be grateful for Michael's cultivation. I also have a lot of colleagues who can empathize with me, which shows that the value and influence of career mentors is huge.
As in the public market, the "Operator and 3G Entry Strategy" in July 2005 laid an absolute lead for nearly five years. History makes people wise. With the advent of 5G, at the moment of the singularity of the Artificial Internet of Things (AIOT) (referring to the revolution from analog to digital to smart phones), the strategic framework can still help us sort out our thinking, "customer insights", "win-win co-operation" and cooperation architecture" joint-business-plan" is still the key point of consideration for the winning strategy of 5G that I recommend.
Source: Maggie, July 2005 Strategy Sharing
I don't know one day, we forgot what local brand we were, and we killed Company M, and we staged fast and furious on the highway, we rarely took a closer look at the opponents around us, and we didn't pay much attention to who else was behind us, and the extreme pursuit of share and brand influence was the norm in that period.