Project Management: Design and Operationalisation of Campaign Planning Process
In 2022, Unilever created specialist Digital Marketing, Media and Digital Commerce (DMC) departments per Business Group. These were designed to be fully integrated growth-driving digital acceleration engines, to ensure the brands were unmissable through planning & delivery of world-class campaigns.
The DMC comprised 20 channel specialists, across Digital, Media, Creative, Web, CRM, Social Media, dcommerce, and Rapid Delivery. Crucial to this setup was the integration of various stakeholder groups, not just Brands but also different agencies, and other internal teams. The challenge lay in creating a workflow that enabled seamless end-to-end campaign delivery and always-on activities, aiming to drive prioritisation, throughput, and OTIF delivery of digital activity, all while aligning with strategic priorities.
My responsibility was to design a process that would underpin the digital transformation & integration of the DMC. This involved understanding the existing inputs and evaluating the technology, responsibilities, and meeting cadence to identify the most effective workflow. I connected with key stakeholders to understand the prior process as well as the main challenges. After reviewing a selection of project management tools, I developed and finalised a process draft which I presented to the Directors and General Manager. Following their approval, I took the process to the various stakeholders. The process itself drew on agile principles to enable a way of working which optimised resource, communication and fostered unity. We established 2 critical meetings – the 'first look' and 'final look', convening the cross-functional team at 6 & 3 months before launch. This allowed for brief review, input, and agreement before execution, with all plans documented and shared to ensure alignment.
The primary challenge was in comprehending the different inputs and existing operation. My strategy focused on defining the ultimate purpose of the process, taking the time to understand each party's roles, responsibilities, and challenges, and addressing these within the new process. I identified and managed key concerns, and focussed on delivering a balanced approach between solid structure and necessary flexibility. The final challenge was encouraging the adoption of this new process. Despite its effectiveness on paper, it required stakeholders to adapt away from familiar procedures. To overcome this, I communicated the meeting cadence and requirements in a concise summary week. Personal discussions were held with those who showed a preference for old methods or struggled to follow the new process and once we established a consistent rhythm, the process was widely accepted and successfully implemented.
The result was a six-month integrated process that minimised time and maximised resources to deliver both exceptional big bet and always-on campaigns.
