Unilever MMM Program · Shared View
Field Guide · Concepts & Definitions
00 / Field Guide

How to read the program.

This page is the dictionary for the two reports shared in this view — Delivery and SOW Reports. The vocabulary (cells, stages, statuses, data lifecycle) is consistent across every cell in the program. Open this when a label, status or count looks unfamiliar.

01 / Reports

The two panes shared in this view.

Both reports are generated from Unilever.xlsx — the program's single source of truth — and re-rendered on each refresh. They are independent of each other but share the same cell key, so countries, brands and SOWs reconcile across panes.

Delivery
Cell × stage status heatmap. Where every cell is in the ten-stage funnel right now: blocked cells, active-by-stage rollup, sponsor breakdown, SOW reconciliation, and a per-cell data-readiness inventory.
SOW Reports
Full SOW tracker, follow-up schedule, value rollup. The Action Center surfaces overdue and upcoming follow-ups; the Data Health pane flags inconsistencies between the SOW register and the cell catalog.
02 / The Cell

The atomic unit of work.

A cell is one country × category × brand combination — for example Italy / Fabric Cleaning / Coccolino. Every report aggregates over cells. The four-column key (business_group, country, category, brand) is the canonical join across every sheet; the cell_id slug (e.g. HC-IT-Fabric-Cleaning-Coccolino) is a convenience handle.

Each cell has a sponsor partner — Europe, Unilever, Google, TikTok or Pinterest — that determines who's funding and steering the work. It also has a cell status describing where it sits in its overall lifecycle, independent of the per-stage status detail.

Cell statuses · tbl_CellStatus

Awaiting Confirmation
Scoped but not formally greenlit. No work yet. Often paired with a draft SOW.
Confirmed Start
SOW signed or commitment in writing. Cell is queued; work has not begun in earnest.
In Build
Active work. The cell is moving through one of the ten stages. Most cells live here.
In Support
Build complete. Cell is in refresh / steady-state mode — periodic re-runs against new data.
On Hold
Paused by the client or by us. Different from Blocked at stage level — this is a cell-wide pause.
Closed
Final sign-off received and the engagement is shut. Kept in the master for history.
03 / The Ten Stages

Every cell travels through the same ten stages, organised in four clusters.

The ten stages are the spine of the program. Every cell inherits the same sequence; what varies is who owns each stage and what status each stage is in. The stage list is the canonical reference for the Delivery heatmap — every column you see in that report is one of these ten.

Pre-Modeling
Stages 1–2
SteerCo · Pijush / Ashutosh
Modeling
Stages 3–5
SteerCo · Pijush / Ashutosh
Synthesis
Stages 6–7
SteerCo · Sukumaran V
Delivery
Stages 8–10
SteerCo · Vinayak Saxena
i
Design Pre-Modeling
The model brief. Variables in scope, granularity, time period, KPIs, exclusions. Pinned down up front so Data and Modeling have an unambiguous target. The cell's intent, written down.
Cell Leadper cell
ii
Data Pre-Modeling
Sourcing, cleaning and validating every input feed — sales, distribution, promotion, media (traditional, digital, ecomm, influencer), competition, BGS, macro. Status of each feed is tracked separately on the Data tab (see §05).
Stage LeadGopinath V
iii
Modeling — MMM Modeling
Fitting the marketing-mix model on the prepared data. The core technical step — decomposing volume / value into base, media, price, promotion and external drivers. Run by per-cell modellers; the cell lead coordinates.
Cell Leadper cell
iv
Modeling — PnP Modeling
Price-and-promotion modelling. Calibrates own-price elasticity, cross-elasticity and promotional response. Often runs in parallel with MMM rather than after it.
Cell Leadper cell
v
Optimization Modeling
The "what-if" engine. Takes the fitted model and returns optimal media / price / mix scenarios under client-set constraints. The numbers that end up in the recommendation.
Stage LeadGopinath V
vi
Validation Synthesis
Sense-checking model outputs against priors, business intuition and previous waves. Catches the implausible before it gets in front of a client. Not a rubber stamp — Validation can send a model back for re-fit.
Stage LeadSibasis Dash
vii
Insights & Storyboarding Synthesis
Turning model output into a narrative. Deck spine, key messages, what to lead with, what to defend. The first stage where the Cell Lead is back in the driver's seat — they own the story end-to-end.
Cell Leadper cell
viii
Business Presentation Delivery
Walkthrough with the Unilever business team — typically Marketing Effectiveness and category leads. Internal-to-Unilever, before the local market sees anything.
Cell Leadper cell
ix
Market Presentation Delivery
Walkthrough with the local market team — the operating client. The recommendation lands here; objections and changes that flow back to the model are flagged here.
Cell Leadper cell
x
Final Sign-Off Delivery
Formal acceptance. Cell moves to Closed (one-shot) or In Support (refresh cadence kicks in). Triggers SOW close-out.
Cell Leadper cell
04 / Stage Status

Six values describe where a stage sits, for any given cell.

Each cell has ten stages, and each stage has a status. The status vocabulary below is fixed. Read these as the column-language of the Delivery heatmap: every coloured tile in that report is one of these six.

NA
The stage does not apply for this cell. Usually a scope decision — e.g. a cell scoped without PnP modelling carries NA on stage iv.
Not Started
In scope for this cell, but no work has begun. The default for stages downstream of the cell's current position.
In Progress
Active work. Whichever stage is In Progress is the cell's current focus.
Blocked
Stalled, with an external dependency named in the stage notes. This is the headline status the action queue surfaces — every Blocked stage becomes an action item.
Done
Stage work is complete from our side, awaiting review or sign-off from the client / next stage owner. Distinct from Signed Off.
Signed Off
Formally accepted. The cell can move to the next stage. Stages 8–10 culminate here for closure.
05 / Data Readiness

Stage 2 is bigger than it looks — it's fourteen separate feeds per cell.

The Data stage on Delivery rolls up a per-cell, per-data-type readiness inventory. Every cell has fourteen data-type rows; each carries one of six lifecycle values. The stage status on the Delivery heatmap should match the rollup — when every feed for a cell is Validated, the Data stage is Done.

Happy path
Pending
→
Received
→
Validated
Off-ramps
Granularity Issue
Blocked
Not in Scope

Granularity Issue — feed arrived but the cut isn't usable (wrong geo level, wrong period). Blocked — feed not arriving, dependency named. Not in Scope — deliberate exclusion, scoped out at Design.

Fourteen data types
Sales & Trade
sales · kantar_sales · ecomm_sales · distribution · promotion · competition_sales
Media
traditional_media · digital_media · ecomm_media · competition_media · boosted_influencer · organic_influencer
External
bgs · macro