Over the last 20+ years, I had the unique opportunity to design, build and lead three full marketing and communication departments from scratch.
Each one was born in a different context:
→ A shared service center with fragmented marketing ownership
→ A corporate bank with a need to humanize the brand
→ A startup-style environment inside a multinational corporation
Each time, I started with a blank page — and left with a team, a culture, and tangible business impact.
🗺️ Strategic steps I took:
✅ Diagnosed brand maturity and business needs before drawing any org chart
✅ Designed org charts aligned with both business priorities and company culture
✅ Recruited talent not just for skills, but for mindset and cross-functional curiosity
✅ Built processes, rituals, and reporting systems that fostered alignment and learning
✅ Defined KPIs that linked marketing impact to actual business growth
🚩 Mistakes I learned from:
❌ Underestimating how long it takes to build true cross-functional trust
❌ Trying to over-standardize processes in inherently creative environments
❌ Being too reactive at the beginning, instead of leading with a strong long-term narrative
✅ What worked:
✨ Building genuine partnerships with internal stakeholders early on
✨ Elevating the function’s visibility through tangible business outcomes, not just slides
✨ Creating a strong culture of co-creation, not just execution — from brand to campaign
🚀 What Unimind would do differently today:
🤝 Integrate AI and automation from day one to boost agility
🎯 Start with brand purpose workshops, not just org design
🛠️ Leverage tools like ClickUp, Notion, Miro and Canva to streamline content operations
Final thought:
