Worksheet: Write promotion guidelines and keep one clash calendar

When each account team plans with its own buyer, depth creeps up and two banners run the same deal in the same week. This sheet writes limits for each top brand and puts every account on one calendar. It builds the Competent step of the check:

Written guidelines set maximum depth, frequency and weeks on promotion per brand, and one clash calendar covers all accounts.

Step 1. Guidelines for each top brand

Brand or pack	Maximum depth (% off shelf price)	Maximum events a year per account	Maximum weeks on promotion a year	Minimum weeks between events	Lowest promoted shelf price ($)	Exceptions approved by
e.g. Brand A, 500g	30%	6	12	4	$4.00	Commercial manager

Set the lowest promoted price for a reason, such as the price the shopper remembers. Do not copy the deepest deal last year.

Step 2. One clash calendar

Weeks run down the page and accounts across it. Every promotion goes in before the account manager agrees it with the buyer.

Week	Account 1	Account 2	Clash?	Resolved how
e.g. Week 14	Brand A, 30%	Brand A, 25%	Yes, same pack in two banners	Account 2 moved to week 17

Step 3. Check each new promotion against the guidelines

Promotion	Account	Depth (%)	Event number this year	Weeks on promotion to date	Inside the guidelines?	If not, approved by

Step 4. Who keeps it

One named person owns the calendar and updates it each week.
Account managers enter a promotion before they agree it with the buyer.
A clash goes to the owner before anyone commits.
The guidelines are reviewed once a year, with last year's promotion results.

Done when: each top brand has written limits on depth, frequency and weeks on promotion, and every account's promotions sit on one clash calendar.

Adapted from our own promotion optimisation proposal (PSP, 2013).