Six Days to Shape a New Era of Marketing Leadership
The Challenge
A household-name FMCG brand had undergone a major restructure, forming a new senior marketing team made up of high-performing individuals who had never worked together as a team.
The team needed to align quickly to deliver ambitious 2025 targets.
They aimed to create a legacy of excellence, positioning themselves as the model marketing team in the FTSE 500.
They wanted to become a magnet for top talent — attracting, developing and retaining high performers.
Despite individual brilliance, early dynamics revealed silos, uncertainty, and competing priorities.
They also faced a reputation challenge: other departments saw marketing as difficult to collaborate with — and they wanted to be invited to the party, not treated as the gatecrashers.
The Solution
A six-day team development overhaul designed to define their purpose, ways of working and collective identity.
Purpose definition: Worked with the team to articulate their unique role within the business — who they wanted to be, what they stood for, and the impact they wanted to have across the organisation.
Strategic focus: Clarified what success would look like in the next 12 months and developed clear criteria for how to prioritise against a heavy workload.
Collaboration and behaviour: Facilitated honest discussions around what each specialist area needed from the others, building understanding and interdependence.
Ways of working: Co-created behavioural norms and rituals that support both delivery and team cohesion.
Culture embedding: Supported the team through a major leadership transition — including the loss of their VP and onboarding of a new one — without losing focus or unity.
The Results
Defined team identity: A clear, shared purpose and positioning that connects business goals with personal motivation.
Cultural stability: The team remained cohesive and high-performing during leadership change — described by one member as “riding the waves without capsizing.”
Improved collaboration: Stronger cross-functional relationships across the business, shifting perceptions of marketing from “difficult” to “trusted partner.”
Sustained performance: Clear priorities and behavioural agreements have enabled the team to stay aligned and deliver against targets, even amid transition.
Attraction and retention: The team is now seen internally as a desirable place to work — a genuine example of leadership in action.