Whitbread Creative Operations | Designing a Scalable Creative Studio Operating Model
Building a studio operating model to support high-volume creative delivery across Whitbread’s hospitality brands.
Transformation Summary
• Designed and implemented Whitbread’s in-house creative studio operating model
• Introduced structured briefing, workflow and resource planning systems
• Enabled the studio to support national campaigns and multi-brand marketing delivery at scale
ROLE
Head of Studio | Creative Operations Lead
Led Whitbread’s in-house creative studio, overseeing workflow systems, resource planning and campaign delivery across multiple hospitality brands.
CONTEXT
As Whitbread’s brand portfolio expanded, creative demand increased rapidly across campaigns, digital channels and operational communications.
At the time, the studio had no structured operating model, workflow infrastructure or shared systems to manage delivery at scale. Creative work relied on informal coordination and ad-hoc processes, making it difficult to prioritise projects, manage capacity and maintain consistency across brands.
IDEA
Designed and implemented a structured studio operating model aligning briefing, workflow management, resource planning and brand governance to enable scalable creative delivery across Whitbread’s hospitality brands.
SCOPE
Developed studio systems including:
• creative briefing frameworks
• workflow and project management
• resource planning and prioritisation
• stakeholder collaboration processes
• brand governance and delivery standards
DELIVERY
Introduced structured briefing to clarify objectives and deliverables.
Implemented workflow and resource planning systems to improve visibility of studio capacity and project priorities.
Developed delivery processes and brand standards to support consistent execution across multiple brands and channels.
Strengthened collaboration between marketing, commercial and creative teams to improve campaign delivery efficiency.
IMPACT
The studio evolved from an informal production function into a structured in-house creative operation supporting national campaigns, digital marketing and operational communications across Whitbread’s hospitality brands.
Studio Operating Model
A structured operating model connecting briefing, workflow management, resource planning and brand governance to support high-volume creative delivery.
Studio Knowledge Hub & Asset Infrastructure
Designed and implemented a centralised SharePoint workspace for the Brand, Marketing and Studio teams, providing structured access to project folders, shared drives and brand assets.
Studio Briefing Framework
Introduced a structured briefing template to clarify objectives, stakeholders, timelines and deliverables, ensuring projects entered the studio with clear scope and accountability.
Studio Resource Planning & Scheduling
Implemented Float for studio resource planning, providing visibility of team capacity, project timelines and workload allocation.
Cloud-Based Campaign Books & Stakeholder Feedback System
Cloud-based campaign books centralised concepts, messaging and assets in a shared workspace, enabling stakeholders to review work, provide structured feedback and align decisions before production.
Studio Workflow & Delivery Framework
Developed clear end-to-end workflow frameworks showing how projects enter, move through and exit the studio. This aligned briefing, scheduling, collaboration and delivery steps while improving transparency across stakeholders.
Studio Workflow & Campaign Planning Board
A centralised Trello workflow board used to manage campaign delivery across Whitbread’s brand portfolio. The system provided real-time visibility of campaign timelines, priorities and production activity, enabling the studio to coordinate high volumes of concurrent creative work across multiple teams.
