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Internal Use Only
Responsibility
Map
Campaign Operations × Campaign Leads × Audience Development
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March 24, 2026 · Meg Hourihan, Campaign Operations Lead · Working Draft
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Three Functions, Three Verb Sets
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CAMPAIGN OPS
Track · Surface · Flag · Prompt · Confirm
The nervous system. Sees all signals, owns no outcomes.
Reports to SVP Commercial Partnerships · Team: Meg Hourihan (LA), Gerard (NY), TBD
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CAMPAIGN LEADS
Plan · Build · Execute · Present · Own
The brain. Decides the story, the plan, the budget.
Reports to SVP Audience Development
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AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
Grow · Target · Optimize · Measure · Amplify
The growth engine. Gets the story to the audience.
SVP Audience Development (direct)
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Never
Ops: Approve · Decide · Oversee · Manage · Own creative or budget
Leads: Track cross-dept status · Process transcripts · Flag operational gaps
Aud Dev: Set campaign strategy · Determine messaging · Own release calendar
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The Hard Lines
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1. Budget
Annual marketing P&L TBD. Not Campaign Ops. |
Per-artist budget Campaign Leads |
Per-dept spend GAP — Currently uneven. Not all dept heads are held accountable for their spend. |
Budget visibility Campaign Ops |
Reallocation Leads → Finance → COO |
Overages Ops surfaces. Leads explains. COO decides. |
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2. Meetings
Cross-dept prep + follow-up Campaign Ops |
Artist campaign meetings Campaign Leads |
Notes distribution Ops produces → Reporting SVPs review → Ops distributes |
Action items Ops tracks. Departments own resolution. |
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3. Artist Information
Artist briefings Ops produces → Leads receives |
Campaign strategy Leads owns → Ops distributes |
Release readiness Ops surfaces → Leads resolves |
Audience data / KPIs Audience Dev produces → Leads uses |
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4. Department Activation
When? Ops prompts at lead time |
What? Leads briefs on strategy |
On schedule? Ops surfaces → flags risk |
Deadline passes? Ops flags. Leads adjusts. Dept executes. |
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5. Systems
Dashboards Campaign Ops |
Data layer Ops maintains. All teams input. |
Release readiness All depts populate. Ops surfaces. |
Financial system Finance owns. Leads allocates. Depts process. |
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Phase-by-Phase
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PHASE |
OPS |
LEADS |
AUD DEV |
Development | Track pipeline · Surface commitments · Flag dependencies | Not yet engaged | Not yet engaged |
Pre-Release | Surface readiness gaps · Flag cross-dept dependencies · Prompt at lead times · Confirm teams briefed | Plan strategy · Build rollout + budget · Present plan | Build social + content · Pre-save campaigns · Target segments |
Rolling Singles | Track performance · Surface signals · Flag schedule adjustments | Own narrative · Execute per-single · Present performance | Execute content · Measure KPIs · Amplify via paid + influencer |
Project Rollout | Surface milestones · Flag uncleared items · Prompt deliverables · At-risk alerts | Present rollout plan · High-visibility marketing · Own messaging | Amplify anticipation · Scale paid media · Platform activations |
Release Week | Real-time tracking · Surface issues · Capture decisions | Launch moments · Day-of coordination · Manage pivots | Full paid push · Real-time social · First-week velocity |
Post-Release | Surface sustain opps · Flag momentum shifts · Prompt retro | Sustain strategy · Effectiveness eval · Present retro | Measure ROI · Optimize content · KPIs vs. benchmarks |
Dormant | Track status · Flag re-entry | Plan when triggered | Minimal evergreen · Monitor signals |
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When Things Go Sideways
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Dept misses deadline, dumps on another team Ops: Flags 14 days out. Prompts. No movement by 7 → escalates. [Escalation path TBD] Leads: Decides if still required. Adjusts scope. |
Management submits overage after label said no Ops: Surfaces against approved amount. Flags to COO. Leads: Explains original cap. Recommends hold or adjust to COO. |
Project pushes, spend needs reallocation Ops: Surfaces change + budget impact. Flags options. Leads: Decides redistribution. Presents forecast to COO. |
Nobody knows a tool exists Ops: Maintains inventory. Surfaces what exists. Flags duplication. Leads: Evaluates impact. Adopts what helps. |
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The Test
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Who decides the campaign narrative? Campaign Leads |
Who tracks whether depts are on time? Campaign Ops |
Who owns per-artist budget? Campaign Leads |
Who surfaces budget divergence? Campaign Ops |
Who decides social/content strategy? Audience Development |
Who flags a missing clearance 10 days out? Campaign Ops |
Who presents the campaign plan? Campaign Leads |
Who distributes meeting notes? Campaign Ops |
Who measures KPIs? Audience Development |
Who explains why we need more budget? Campaign Leads |
Who holds the annual P&L? TBD. Not Campaign Ops. |
Who knows what every dept is doing? Campaign Ops. |
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Team Structure
By department, not by artist.
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UPSTREAM A&R
A&R Administration
Business & Legal
Finance |
EXECUTION Creative & Content
Publicity
Radio
Tour Marketing |
COMMERCIAL Commercial Partnerships
International
Brand Partnerships
Sync & Licensing |
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ESCALATION
Flag with one dept Cluster owner handles it. |
Two people flag same dept Both route to me. I consolidate. One voice. |
Flag crosses clusters I synthesize. Surface to Leads. [Escalation beyond Leads TBD] |
Dept unresponsive I escalate. Campaign Ops speaks as a unit. [Escalation path TBD] |
Urgent / release-week Whoever catches it, handles it. Speed over structure. |
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ARTIST-LEVEL CONVERGENCE
Cross-dept meetings All cluster perspectives converge in a single by-artist agenda. |
Shared data layer Any team member sees every dept’s status on any artist. |
Me Cross-cluster view. Synthesized picture to Leads. |
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Gaps to Resolve
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1. Per-department budget accountability
Not all department heads are currently held accountable for their own spend. Some departments can overspend with no consequence while others absorb the cost. This is a structural decision for the COO.
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2. Operational escalation path
When a department misses a deadline or is consistently unresponsive, where does it go? Budget escalation is clear (Leads → Finance → COO). Operational escalation is not. Does it go to the department’s SVP first? Directly to COO? This needs to be defined.
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3. Campaign Leads presentation path
When Campaign Leads presents a campaign plan or retrospective, who is the audience? COO? Reporting SVPs? President? This varies by artist priority and is currently undefined.
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4. Annual marketing P&L ownership
Previously held by one person who has since departed. No replacement named. Campaign Ops can provide budget visibility, but the P&L accountability requires a title and authority that matches the responsibility.
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This Week
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ALREADY RUNNING
Cross-dept meeting prep ACTIVE |
Artist briefings + prep packages ACTIVE |
Shared data layer (113 artists) ACTIVE |
Release readiness monitoring ACTIVE — CRITICAL GAPS FLAGGED |
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START THIS WEEK
1. Budget visibility handshake Ops + Finance · We surface divergence. We don’t approve or deny. |
2. Lead-time prompts Ops → Departments · No new meetings. Timely flags via existing channels. |
3. Handoff protocol with Campaign Leads Ops surfaces → Leads decides → Ops tracks resolution → escalates if unresolved. [Escalation path TBD] |
4. Knowledge capture Ops + Leads · Budget precedent and spend history documented before it walks out the door. |
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Nervous system. Brain. Growth engine. Muscle.
Nobody is subordinate. The lines are clear.
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Campaign Operations · RCA Records · March 2026
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