Whitbread Creative Operations | Scaling the In-House Creative Studio
Building a structured studio operating model to support high-volume creative delivery across Whitbread’s hospitality brand portfolio.
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 across campaigns, digital channels and operational communications.
The studio required clearer workflows, improved resourcing visibility and structured briefing to maintain quality while supporting higher production volume.
IDEA
Design a structured studio operating model aligning briefing, workflow management, resource planning and brand governance to support efficient, high-volume creative delivery.
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 into a scalable in-house operation supporting national campaigns, digital marketing and operational communications.
Structured workflows improved delivery visibility and reduced production friction, enabling the team to manage increasing creative demand while maintaining strong brand governance and creative standards.
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 Workflow & Delivery Framework
Developed a clear end-to-end workflow framework showing how projects enter, move through and exit the studio.
This aligned briefing, scheduling, collaboration and delivery steps while improving transparency across stakeholders.
Studio Resource Planning & Scheduling
Implemented Float for studio resource planning, providing visibility of team capacity, project timelines and workload allocation.
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.
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.
