Case studyCentral YMCA / Marketing operations
A clearer operating model for five divisions.
A fixed-term role introducing central planning, visibility and accountability to a reactive marketing department.
- Organisational divisions supported
- 5
- Marketing delivery for a YMCA Awards event
- House of Commons
01 / The problem
Making the work visible.
Marketing requests arrived informally through individual team members. Priorities were unclear, tasks were not tracked centrally and leadership had limited visibility of what the department was delivering.
I joined on a fixed-term contract to improve the department’s planning, tracking and reporting across YMCA Club, YMCA Education, YMCA Community Programmes, YMCA Fit and YMCA Awards.
02 / What changed
A shared process for requests and delivery.
I introduced a central marketing workflow so requests could be tracked, priorities made visible and responsibilities assigned. Structured campaign planning connected work with business-unit objectives and timelines.
I also clarified team responsibilities, hired a content writer and coordinated stakeholders across the organisation.
- 01Centralise requests
- 02Agree priorities
- 03Assign responsibilities
- 04Plan & track delivery
Outcome
The operating model created a shared view of current work, clearer ownership and greater accountability for project delivery.
03 / Performance reporting
Beyond counting marketing outputs.
Reporting had centred on the creative assets produced. I introduced reporting around campaigns, leads, conversions and estimated revenue impact.
The aim was to give leadership a clearer connection between marketing activity and commercial performance.
04 / In practice
The House of Commons project.
I led marketing delivery for a YMCA Awards event at the House of Commons. The project put the new structure into practice through defined responsibilities, timelines and coordination across teams.
The newly hired content writer played a key role in managing the project workflow and following up tasks. It provided a concrete example of the more structured approach to delivery.
Supporting the story