What We Built
Two connected Asana projects. One intake pipeline. One production board. Fully automated handoffs. The team operates under the internal name Creative Saints.
Intake Project
- Signal Received → Triage
- Auto-routes by Ministry Entity
- Pod A / Pod B assignment
- MSD Routing + Strategy Brief
- Capacity Check → Build
- 36 automation rules
Kanban Board
- 13 sections (S3 → S12)
- 3 filtered views
- Campaign Container Template
- Quality gates at S6.5, S9.5, S10.5
- 30 automation rules
- Performance measurement built in
Key Changes from the Old System
Multi-Homing
Tasks live in both the Campaign Container and the Kanban Board simultaneously. No duplication. One task, two views.
3 Board Views
The Kanban Board uses three filtered views — Production Pipeline, Review & Approval, Distribution & Measurement — instead of one cluttered board.
Automated Routing
25 ministry entities are pre-mapped to pods. When a request comes in, the system routes it — no manual assignment needed.
Quality Gates
Three checkpoints (6.5, 9.5, 10.5) enforce quality before work moves forward. No more skipping steps or shipping unfinished work.
S.D.O.C. Pillar Tagging
Every campaign maps to Salvation, Development, Outreach, or Community. We track what we build against the mission of the House.
Tiered Measurement
48hr Paid Check → 7-Day Read → 30-Day Full Report. Three measurement windows, not one.
One Rule
Every campaign — no matter how big or small — enters through Intake and flows through the 12 stages. No side doors. No exceptions. The system works when we all use it.
How Work Enters the System
Marketing work originates from strategy, not requests. Four intake lanes, one signal gate, five governance rules.
Four Intake Lanes
New campaigns, initiatives, events — anything that needs a strategy built from scratch. Starts with a Discovery Workshop.
Owner: Marketing Strategy Director
Recommended runway: Full (120+ days) · Minimum: Moderate (60–90 days)
Once strategy is approved, Ops converts it into a Campaign Container with objectives, audience, channel stack, deliverables, and deadlines.
Owner: Marketing Operations Lead
Trigger: Approved Strategy Brief from Lane 1
Small execution that doesn't need a strategy: asset resizing, slide edits, minor web updates, simple email deployments.
Owner: Marketing Ops Lead
SLA: Capacity-queued by pod
Experimental content, new platforms, format tests, small creative bets we want to ship and learn from. Lightweight path: Stages 1–2, 6, 8, 11–12. Reduced gates, full pillar tagging and measurement still required.
Owner: Marketing Strategy Director (low-friction approval)
SLA: Capacity-queued, opportunistic
The Signal Gate
Before any lane is activated, the signal passes through the Strategy Director who determines the right lane.
Five Intake Governance Rules
Ministry Portfolio Assignments
Every active TPH entity is assigned a Strategy Director and Project Manager.
| Entity | Min | Dept | Com | Vol | MSD | PM |
|---|
Pod Structure (Phased Implementation)
Zones define what type of work you do. Pods define which entities you serve. Currently in Phase 1.
Marketing Strategy Directors, Project Managers. Eventually: Creative, Copywriter, Copy Editor per pod.
Social Media Manager, Community Manager, Marketing Ops Specialist, Paid Media Specialist, House Photographer, Videographer, Cinematographer.
Budget Ownership
Budget projections, forecasting, and availability remain with the Executive Director of Marketing. Project-level spend is managed by the Marketing Strategy Director with Ops Lead tracking actuals.
Content Producer ↔ Social Media Manager Protocol
For social video content: the Social Media Manager (Caleb) defines what is needed and is R/A for the output. The Content Producer (Britny) and video team (Ronnie, Eryon) execute as R. Creative direction comes from the Interim Creative Director.
12 Stages, Start to Finish
Every campaign follows the same path. No shortcuts, no confusion. The system moves you forward when you're ready.
The Advance Field
This is how tasks move between stages. No dragging cards around. No ambiguity about “is this ready?”
How It Works
When your work in a stage is done, set the Advance field to “Ready.” The system checks the condition, then auto-moves the task to the next section. The Advance field resets automatically. You never drag a task — the system does the moving.
Complete Team Roster
All 24 roles across 6 functional zones. Open positions shown with dashed borders.
Pod Assignments
Every ministry entity maps to a pod. Your pod determines your MSD, your PM, and your workflow lane.
Pod A
Pod B
Rapid Support
Requests tagged as Rapid Support bypass MSD routing entirely and go straight to Kaylin Harris (Marketing Operations Lead) for immediate triage and assignment. SLA: capacity-queued by pod.
Role Definitions
Every stage has a clear owner. If it’s not your stage, stay in your lane — and trust the system to route it.
Marketing Operations Lead
Triages incoming signals. Verifies fields. Routes to MSD. Monitors capacity. Governs intake and workflow.
MSD
Owns the strategy. Writes the brief. Approves at Gate 9. Ensures alignment start to finish.
Creative Director
Locks visual direction at Stage 4. Reviews all creative output at Stage 8. Final visual authority.
PM
Manages the Campaign Container. Tracks subtask progress. Enforces timelines. Flags blockers.
Production Team
Executes Stages 5–7. Photo, video, graphic, copy. Delivers raw assets before Gate 6.5.
Exec Director
Signs off on Housewide campaigns. Escalation point for red-light capacity conflicts. Final authority.
RACI Matrix
15 stages including 3 quality gates. Click any stage to see activities with full RACI assignments.
RACI uses generic role labels (e.g., "Graphic Designer," "Copywriter," "Marketing Strategy Director"). When a role is invoked for pod-specific work, it routes per pod assignment: Christopher Williams (Pod A) / Cimone Hurst (Pod B) for design; Lauren Moses (Pod A) / Eric Strickland (Pod B) for copy; Cara Rosmon (Pod A, TBD) / Louis Marroquin (Pod B) for copy editing; Jasmine Johnson (Pod A) / Nialah Baker (Pod B) for strategy. For non-pod-specific work — enterprise campaigns, shared assets, channel-agnostic deliverables — both pod holders share the role's responsibility.
Decision Rights by Role
Select a stage above
Production Workflow
12-step workflow with 3 quality gates. Click any step to expand details.
Asset Type Accountability
| Asset Type | Accountable (A) | Responsible (R) / Governance |
|---|
Campaign Tiers
Every campaign has a tier. Your tier determines your timeline. No exceptions.
| Campaign Tier | Duration | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Full runway | 120+ days | Multi-channel campaign, major event launch |
| Moderate runway | 60–90 days | Ministry series, seasonal campaign |
| Limited runway | 30–60 days | Single-channel push, time-sensitive content |
| Minimal | Under 30 days | Existing-asset re-skins, date swaps only |
Ownership Zones
Nine functional zones with clear boundaries and decision authority.
Channel Ecosystem
60 channels across 6 categories with full interaction model.
Channel Interaction Model
Full Channel RACI Matrix
Click any category to expand, then click a channel to see Create → Adapt → Publish → Measure assignments.
Content Types
50 content types across 7 production categories.
Communication Framework
Ministry touchpoints, tiered support model, and campaign timeline.
Ministry Touchpoints
| Touchpoint | Frequency | Duration | Stage | Purpose |
|---|
Campaign Tiers
120-Day Campaign Timeline
Pre-Launch Requirements
✓ Creative review passed
✓ Copy proofed by Sr. Copyeditor
✓ Channel assets QA'd
✓ Tracking/UTMs configured
✓ Campaign container linked in Asana
✓ Budget approval documented
✓ Cross-ministry coordination confirmed
✓ Contingency plan in place
How the System Runs in Asana
The marketing workflow lives across two connected Asana projects. This section documents the implementation layer — the architecture, the Campaign Container template, the 33 automation rules, the custom field catalog, and the naming conventions every PM uses every day. If a process is in this playbook, this section explains how it actually runs in the tool.
Two-Project Architecture
Marketing Project Intake (MPI) handles intake and scoping — Stages 1–2 of the lifecycle. The Marketing Team Kanban Board handles production and distribution — Stages 3–12. The parent Campaign Container task multi-homes between them so a single source of truth is visible in both places.
Marketing Project Intake (MPI)
- Lane 1 — Strategic Campaigns
- Lane 2 — Operational Requests
- Lane 3 — Rapid Support
- Signal Received → MSD Routing
- Campaign Container Created
- Capacity Confirmed
- Sprint Entry — Ready for Kanban
- On Hold · Declined
Marketing Team Kanban Board
- Brief Creation (Stage 3)
- Creative Direction (Stage 4)
- Pre-Production (Stage 5) · Production (Stage 6)
- ⬥ Production Complete (Gate 6.5)
- Post-Production (Stage 7) · Creative Review (Stage 8)
- Final Approval (Stage 9)
- ⬥ Gate 9.5 — Distribution Readiness
- Channel Adaptation (Stage 10)
- ⬥ Gate 10.5 — Cross-Channel Ready
- Distribution (Stage 11) · Performance (Stage 12)
One Container, Two Projects
The PM creates a Campaign Container in MPI's "Campaign Container Created" section after MSD routing and capacity confirmation. The Container task is configured to multi-home to the Kanban Board's Brief Creation section, so the same task is visible and editable in both projects. Subtasks (the 22 production deliverables) live under the Container in Kanban's stage sections.
The Campaign Container Template
When a PM creates a Campaign Container, the template applies 22 pre-built subtasks across the 12-stage lifecycle. Three are quality gates. Stage 10 has no static subtasks — channel-specific deliverables are auto-created by the CB1–CB9 rules based on which Distribution Channels are selected.
Channel subtasks aren't in the template — the CB rules add them
The 22 static subtasks above stop at Gate 9.5 and pick up again at Gate 10.5. Stage 10 (Channel Adaptation) has no pre-built subtasks because every campaign uses a different channel mix. When a PM sets the Distribution Channels custom field, rules CB1–CB9 fire and create the channel-specific subtasks dynamically. That's why Gate 10.5 has no fixed upstream dependencies in the template.
Custom Fields Catalog
Thirteen custom fields drive routing, automation, capacity, reporting, and gate-clearing across both projects. Set them at intake and the rest of the system responds.
| Field | Type | What It Drives |
|---|---|---|
| Priority | Single-select | Low / Medium / High — sort order in views |
| Campaign Tier | Single-select | Full (120+) / Moderate (60–90) / Compressed (30–59) / Under 30 — triggers Rule R14 (Exec Dir sign-off) for Full tier |
| Pod | Single-select | Pod A (Jasmine / Cheyenne) / Pod B (Nialah / Eric) — auto-assigns MSD and PM |
| Intake Lane | Single-select | Strategic / Operational / Rapid Support — routes through the Signal Gate |
| Gate Status | Single-select | Not Yet / Pending Review / Cleared / Blocked — controls auto-advance rules at S6.5, S9.5, S10.5 |
| Ministry Entity | Single-select | All TPH entities — determines Pod assignment |
| Distribution Channels | Multi-select | Social / Paid / Email / Website / Print / OOH / Streaming / Podcast / Merch — triggers CB1–CB9 channel subtask creation |
| Hour Estimate | Number | Capacity tracking — feeds Ops Lead's Capacity Overview view |
| Strategy Brief URL | Text | Link to strategy/discovery brief document |
| Advance | Single-select | Single value "Ready" — PM sets manually to trigger advance rules; resets after the move |
| S.D.O.C. Pillar | Multi-select | Salvation / Development / Outreach / Community — required at intake; used in Stage 12 measurement |
| Campaign Launch Date | Date | Drives Rule R17 (auto-creates 48hr / 7-day / 30-day measurement subtasks) |
| Blocked Reason | Single-select | Awaiting Assets / Awaiting Approval / Capacity Conflict / Ministry Unresponsive / Creative Revision — diagnostic, sets context when a task stalls |
Automation Rules — 33 Total
The Kanban Board runs 33 automation rules organized into four families. Together they handle stage transitions, channel-specific subtask creation, gate clearing, and merch-specific blocks. The team rarely touches them directly — the rules fire on field changes and section moves.
Lifecycle Rules (R9–R17) — 9 rules
Drive the Container through major stage transitions and notify the right owners when work hits their queue.
| # | Rule | Trigger | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| R9 | Brief Creation — Stage 3 Activation Comment | Container enters Brief Creation | Posts activation comment with stage instructions |
| R10 | Pending Review — Asset Delivery Gate | All Stage 6 subtasks complete | Move task to Production Complete (Gate 6.5) |
| R11 | Post-Production — Notify Video Team | Gate 6.5 cleared | Move to Post-Production; notify Videographer + Sr. Copyeditor |
| R12 | Creative Review — Notify Creative Lead | Post-Production subtasks complete | Move to Creative Review; notify Creative Director |
| R13 | Final Approval — All Subtasks Complete + Comment | Creative Review subtasks complete | Move to Final Approval; post comment with sign-off instructions |
| R14 | Exec Dir Sign-off — Full Tier | Tier = Full + task in Final Approval | Auto-create "Exec Dir Sign-Off" subtask assigned to Dexter |
| R15 | Channel Adaptation — Notify Distribution Team | Gate 9.5 cleared | Move to Channel Adaptation; notify channel owners |
| R16 | Distribution — All Channels Confirmed | Gate 10.5 cleared | Move to Distribution; post final green-light comment |
| R17 | Performance — Post-Launch Tracking Subtasks | Distribution complete + Campaign Launch Date reached | Auto-create 48hr Paid Check, 7-Day Read, 30-Day Performance Report subtasks (date-triggered) |
Campaign Bundle Rules (CB1–CB9) — 9 rules
When a PM sets the Distribution Channels custom field, the matching CB rules fire and auto-create channel-specific subtasks for Stage 10. Each rule maps 1:1 to one option in the Distribution Channels field.
| # | Bundle | Trigger | What It Creates |
|---|---|---|---|
| CB1 | Social Bundle | Distribution Channels includes "Social" | Stage 10 social format adaptation subtasks (per platform) |
| CB2 | Paid Media Bundle | Distribution Channels includes "Paid" | Stage 10 paid variant subtasks (Google, Meta, programmatic) |
| CB3 | Email & Direct Messaging Bundle | Distribution Channels includes "Email" | Stage 10 email build, segmentation, SMS subtasks |
| CB4 | Website & SEO Bundle | Distribution Channels includes "Website" | Stage 10 web/landing page build subtasks (HubSpot/WordPress) |
| CB5 | Print & Signage Bundle | Distribution Channels includes "Print" | Stage 10 print collateral and signage production subtasks |
| CB6 | OOH & On-Campus Bundle | Distribution Channels includes "OOH" | Stage 10 out-of-home and on-campus signage subtasks |
| CB7 | Streaming & Broadcast Bundle | Distribution Channels includes "Streaming" | Stage 10 streaming, OTT, and broadcast subtasks |
| CB8 | Podcast Bundle | Distribution Channels includes "Podcast" | Stage 10 podcast publishing and distribution subtasks |
| CB9 | Merch & Retail Bundle | Distribution Channels includes "Merch" | Stage 10 Shopify, retail display, and POP subtasks |
This is the "dynamic Stage 10" system. Static templates would either include every channel (creating a mess of irrelevant subtasks) or none (leaving PMs to add work manually). CB rules let one Container scale from a 5-channel campaign to a 1-channel push without changing the template.
Advance / Auto-Advance Rules — 11 rules
Move the Container between sections. "Advance" rules fire when a PM sets the Advance field to "Ready." "Auto-advance" rules fire when all subtasks in a stage complete. Gate-clearing rules fire when Gate Status = Cleared.
| From → To | Trigger |
|---|---|
| Brief Creation → Creative Direction | Advance = Ready |
| Creative Direction → Pre-Production | Advance = Ready |
| Pre-Production → Production | Advance = Ready |
| Production → Gate 6.5 (Production Complete) | All Stage 6 subtasks complete (auto) |
| Gate 6.5 → Post-Production | Gate Status = Cleared |
| Post-Production → Creative Review | All Stage 7 subtasks complete (auto) |
| Creative Review → Final Approval | All Stage 8 subtasks complete |
| Final Approval → Gate 9.5 (Distribution Readiness) | All Stage 9 sign-off subtasks complete |
| Gate 9.5 → Stage 10 (Channel Adaptation) | Gate Status = Cleared (auto) |
| Stage 10 → Gate 10.5 (Cross-Channel Ready) | All channel subtasks complete (auto) |
| Gate 10.5 → Distribution | Gate Status = Cleared |
| Distribution → Performance | Advance = Ready |
Product Gate Rules (PG1–PG3) — 3 rules
Merch campaigns have their own physical-product gates that block production and distribution until samples and inventory are confirmed. Driven by the "Product Gate" custom field on Kanban.
| # | Gate | Blocks | Until |
|---|---|---|---|
| PG1 | Block Production — Awaiting Sample | Stage 6 production cannot start | Product Gate = Sample Approved |
| PG2 | Block Distribution — Awaiting E-Commerce | Stage 11 distribution cannot publish | Product Gate = E-Commerce Confirmed |
| PG3 | Block Publish — Awaiting Inventory | Stage 11 publish blocks until stock confirmed | Product Gate = Inventory Ready |
Multi-Home Flow
A single Campaign Container exists in both projects simultaneously through Asana's multi-home feature. This is what lets MSDs work in MPI while production happens in Kanban without the team creating two parallel tasks.
Container Created
(Stage 3)
How It Works in Practice
The PM creates the Container in MPI. The template configuration adds the Kanban Board as a second project on the parent task. Subtasks live under the parent, but they're assigned to Kanban's stage sections (Brief Creation, Production, etc.) so they appear as cards on the Kanban view. As stages advance, subtasks move through Kanban sections; the parent stays anchored in both projects, giving MSDs (in MPI) and PMs (in Kanban) the same source of truth.
Naming Conventions — The Legend
Every task name follows a fixed format so the entity, the work, and the timeframe are visible at a glance. This is the canonical legend — per the 5/7 finalization decision, this is non-optional. If you don't recognize a name pattern, look it up here.
| Where | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| MPI — Strategic | [Entity] Campaign Name — Q# YYYY | [E-Church] Summer Camp Launch — Q2 2026 |
| MPI — Operational | [Entity] Asset/Deliverable — MM.DD | [The House Shop] May Promo Assets — 05.01 |
| MPI — Rapid Support | [RS] Entity — Update — MM.DD | [RS] WTAL — Date Swap Flyer — 05.15 |
| Kanban Container | [Entity] Campaign Name — Q# YYYY | [TPH Main] Mother's Day Campaign — Q2 2026 |
| Container Subtasks | S#: Deliverable Name | S6: Hero graphic — Instagram carousel |
| Quality Gates | ⬥ S#.5: Verification | ⬥ S6.5: Production Complete |
| Tier-Conditional Subtasks | S#: Description [Tier 1 Only] | S9: Exec Dir Sign-Off [Tier 1 Only] |
| Channel Subtasks (CB-generated) | S10: Channel — Format | S10: Social — IG Reel adaptation |
Glossary
Per the 5/7 finalization decision, the legend is mandatory.
If a task name doesn't follow these conventions, it gets returned for correction. The conventions exist so the team can scan a board and immediately know: who owns this entity, what kind of work it is, when it's due, and which stage it's in. Anyone who refuses to use the legend is failing a vital part of their job — this isn't a style preference, it's how the system stays readable as the team scales.
Operating Principles
8 foundational rules that govern the entire operations playbook.