Driving Marketing and PR as a regional team

A remote or WFH structure might play well with managing a function regionally. However, there are key practices that continue to evolve when it comes to providing guidance, instruction and aligning your teams with objectives.

It is arguable that one of the few practices least impacted by the pandemic has been remote management and the provision of guidance from regional HQs to country teams.

Many regional teams are used to quarterly and half-year cadences where global objectives are distilled into regional plans, before being shared with our country counterparts.

The key to the successful implementation of this practice is the degree of trust between regional and local teams, the creativity of teams in adapting regional plans to the local environment, as well as alignment between teams in achieving shared regional goals.

During the pandemic, many regional teams might feel handicapped having to rely more heavily on tools such as video and email to cover large or numerous topics. This behaviour is compounded by an inability to meet with country teams face-to-face to reinforce relationships and gather first-hand information to tweak plans.

There is also pressure from management to be opportunistic in the short-term and strategic for next year.

We share 3 practices that are important for HQ teams to consider as organisations evolve even more operational arrangements in response to the pandemic.

Be clear about responsibilities and scope

· Take advantage of the regional team’s mid to long-term outlook and perspective of global plans when it comes to direction, strategy and approach. The more country plans are aligned, the easier it is for the regional team to state their case for resources and support.

· Be supportive of country teams who are infinitely clearer about local conditions such as the receptiveness of messaging, shifting policy, etc. Lean on local teams especially during the current economic situation, as they will be first to know when key decision makers in the customer organisation are adapting strategy or moving.

· Create shared goals to spread ownership across the team and to reinforce the mindset that we are all one team, pulling in the same direction.

Build a system with the regional team as hub, and provide space for the countries (spokes) to give direct feedback

· Think in terms of system vs. silo when it comes to optimising for output.

· Create formulas and templates that everyone on team understands and can use. For example, building a formula for measuring outcomes begins from the input shared, that results in a specific output you want adapted for local markets and that can be designated and measured as an outcome.

· Assign roles across the regional and country teams such that every team has ownership of the plan and execution as a region.

Over-communicate

· It is already challenging enough having to decipher signals over video without non-verbal cues. Share information and content ahead of meetings with a realistic timeframe for team members to read and understand.

· Share upfront that all teams should over-explain, and document relevant information and steps along the way. Provide time to do so in the workflow and be prepared for delays.

· Ensure that all questions are followed up, even if there is no answer for the moment, or the information lies with other teams. Make it a point to secure the information needed for decision making quickly. Avoid being or becoming a gatekeeper.

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We are Brand Utility is a business consultancy. We work with brands in the corporate, retail, travel and technology spaces.

We offer strategy and tactics to support growth outcomes - revenue, scale, regional expansion and market entry – for our clients.

Areas of support include:

· Strategic communications: Approach to market, brand concept and map, positioning, messaging, story and narrative, thought leadership

· Marketing: Campaign/programme planning, story-based marketing execution, digital marketing, community amplification, content planning and production, go-to-market execution

· Lead generation: Digital advertising, social media advertising, social commerce, e-commerce

· Integration of marketing with business operations: We plan and execute as a seconded marketing and/or PR lead for your brand

Discover more about our services at our website or book an exploratory consultation through this link.

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