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How do you structure campaigns with many deliverables?

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Level 1
Help! I wish the Program function was able to disseminate campaign elements that common to the various projects associated with the Program. For example, we have a large event that has varying projects and timelines associated with it but I don't want to copy/paste objectives for the overall campaign into every single project. I also feel it is too much to make my creative team navigate backwards when they need this information. Does anyone have any good advice on building campaign briefs with multiple deliverables in workfront? Thanks! Tammy Samisch Weissman's Theatrical Supplies, Inc.
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Level 7
Placing the overall campaign objectives in the Program Details --> Description section not an option for you? Terry Hynd EBSCO Information Services

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Level 10
Can you paste the URL to the brief on every WF Project that is part of the campaign?

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Level 2
Hi! For my large campaigns that involve multiple projects, I enter a line item for that project and use a link in the predecessor column. That way, all of the details needed for that project are contained in another request. For example if Campaign A included an Email Journey as one of the many tactics, I would have a line item for Email Journey. Then, a project would need to be entered such as Email Journey for Campaign A in order for me to link it. That one would contain all the tasks for the Email Journey. To actually link to another project, you need to start in Campaign A, open the task, such as Email Journey, click More, then, Predecessors, then select Cross-Project Predecessors on the right. Click Add Predecessor, and then type the project name, Email Journey for Campaign A. You will also need to select the task in Email Journey for Campaign A to trigger completion in Campaign A and I usually select, Final Approval or Uploaded to site. Be sure both are in Workfront before linking. Hope that makes sense and it has helped me simplify the many components of a campaign. If you have question, feel free to email me. Angie Angie Kweder ANSYS-Marketing

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Community Advisor
Angie that's an interesting solution. So you are doing cross-project predecessors to your Campaign project and your campaign project as a master project. How are you utilizing programs in this environment? I have a similar ask from my teams and wonder if this could work for us as well. Monique Evans Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.

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Community Advisor
Hi Tammy, You could have calculated fields on your project custom form that point to and pull from the Program level. This way the information lives in one place but it is easily accessible and shows on the individual projects. If someone updated the data on the program, the update would show on the project after an update was made on the project; unless you edit the custom form and tell Workfront to update the calculation on all projects. This is a little advanced but pretty easy to code; especially if you are using a native field. Monique Evans Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.

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Level 2
Well the level above the campaign is considered a Program and the Campaign is at the Project Level. I am now trying to come up with a Campaign template since I have been customizing them but there are many similarities. Does that answer your question? Angie Kweder ANSYS-Marketing

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Community Advisor
This helps a little but I actually was wondering how do you determine which projects are in a Program. Is it just the campaign with the supporting deliverable projects or is it multiple campaigns and deliverable projects together. If there are multiple campaigns together whats the thing that links them? Does that make sense? Monique Evans Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.

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Level 2
The way I have been doing (for all of 2 months now) is having 1 campaign with multiple projects or deliverables in them at the project level. Angie Kweder ANSYS-Marketing

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Community Advisor
Thanks! That's super helpful as we have been debating the best practices and how many levels of categorizing, we actually need. As a company we usually find ourselves making things way more complicated than necessary.

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Level 10
We use WF for marketing so I think different companies have different ways to think about how to group their projects. I haven't used programs because I can't think of a way that would make sense and not add a level of bureaucracy to what is already viewed as a complex program. I use portfolios to differentiate marketing types because different groups work on each – ie direct mail, email, advertising, website, video. One idea I was thinking was to break it into product category (we are a travel company so that would mean by geography of where our ships sail; but if you are a retailer it could be shoes, handbags, socks). The other idea I was thinking would be if you have big and complicated campaigns you could potentially link together all the projects in the campaign such as the print flyer, tv ad, paid social media ads, emails, brochures etc. into one program (ie for Geico it would be the gecko vs the caveman). Jill Ackerman

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Community Advisor
Thanks, Jill I totally agree and appreciate hearing the different ways people are using native features. All of this has been extremely helpful and I will be using these scenarios in my own instance. Monique Evans Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.

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Level 10
It sounds to me that if you have a campaign with multiple Projects that are connected to each other with cross-project predecessors, and if you group them into a Program then you have a way to display all the projects together in a grouping view, which sounds like a nice solution. Jill Ackerman

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Level 2
There seems to be many ways to do this. Here's another option we are testing out: Open up the campaign or program (as we call it) as a project in WF. Then each creative component (ie: ad, flyer, etc) is converted from an issue to a task under that program. Thoughts? Madeleine Bronstone LeapPoint

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Level 7
For us, our 'campaigns' are 'programs', and each 'deliverable' is a project associated to the program. Each deliverable is a separate project because each has its own deadline(s), task (template) workflow, etc. For example: Program: ABC Product Launch Project A: ABC Flyer Project B: ABC Email 1 Project C: ABC Email 2 Project D: ABC Banner Stand Project E: ABC E-Brochure Terry Hynd EBSCO Information Services

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Level 3
Hi Angie - just curious when you say you have "1 campaign with multiple projects or deliverables in them at the project level" is the "campaign" a separate object? Or is the label "campaign" describing this multiple projects? So say you have 5 projects, altogether they are the "campaign" - as opposed to some of the other suggestions of having a Program (object) as an umbrella? Thank you! Tina Huang Optum