A Global Collaboration to Evolve Marketing Governance
Challenge
Haleon – a global consumer health leader operating in 170+ countries – faced the growing complexity of marketing governance on an international scale. Different markets imposed varied advertising trends, privacy laws, and regulatory obligations, making it difficult to maintain consistent standards across regions – Digital acceleration amplified the complexity and pace of change. A decentralized, reactive approach where local teams informally raised issues as they arose could not keep pace with this complexity. In fact, 85% of companies say compliance requirements have grown more complex in just the last three years. With PWC reporting 83–84% in consumer and health industries feeling the impact , and nearly half of compliance leaders now have a global remit, navigating multiple jurisdictions and amplifying the risk of inconsistencies.
Internally, governance was often seen as a bottleneck to agility and growth. This perception is echoed broadly – in one CEO survey, 64% agreed that the regulatory environment was a top barrier to business reinvention and value delivery (source: pwc.com). The challenge for Haleon was to turn marketing governance from a check-the-box, after-the-fact constraint into a proactive framework that could both ensure compliance and support the business growth ambition.The stakes were high: 71% of customers say they would stop buying from brands that break their trust (source: papirfly.com), so any compliance lapse in marketing could damage Haleon’s hard-won consumer trust and brand reputation.
Solution
To address these issues, Haleon restructured its marketing governance with a centralized strategy supported by technology. Rather than relying on ad-hoc local checks and remote Compliance council, the company moved to establish global standards and embed compliance into everyday marketing workflows. This approach aligns with a wider trend – many companies are reimagining compliance by centralizing activities, leveraging technology, consolidating data, and involving compliance earlier in the process. In fact, nearly 49% of risk and compliance professionals say that standardizing frameworks across the organization would help reduce complexity and cost (source: secureframe.com), underscoring the logic behind Haleon’s move.
Haleon partnered with Uptitude, a specialist in governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) for regulated industries like consumer healthcare and pharma. Uptitude’s provided resources and digital governance tool Revizor to support ongoing monitoring and decision-making for Haleon’s websites and social media accounts. Revizor provided the technology “enabler” that Haleon needed to transition from reactive compliance to an automated, data-driven governance model. Key capabilities included:
Transitioning from Manual to Automated Compliance Monitoring
We are moving from ad hoc, manual monitoring to a fully automated and systematic scanning process of all Haleon’s digital assets. This enables proactive identification of potential compliance risks—such as missing disclaimers, outdated policies, or market-inappropriate content—by brand and geography.
Establishing Global and Local Marketing Governance Scores
Leveraging automated data from Revizor scans and Marketing-defined weightings, we’ve introduced Governance Scores that provide both global and local teams with a transparent view of marketing compliance. These scores help surface risk in a meaningful way and set clear, actionable expectations at the local level.
From Data to Action: Dashboards and Risk Prioritization
Beyond scoring, the platform offers intuitive dashboards and analytics that translate raw data into prioritized actions. High-risk items are flagged, and targeted mitigation steps are suggested. The scoring system also supports gamification, allowing marketers to track and improve their performance over time by following clear guidance.
Seamless Integration with Internal Systems
The tool integrates with internal platforms such as HR platforms and Digital Media inventory, ensuring that all findings are relevant, traceable, and quickly assigned to the appropriate owners for resolution.
This technology-enabled solution allowed Haleon to apply consistent governance standards across regions while still allowing for local nuance and agility – a critical balance for any organization operating across borders. Uptitude’s deep GRC expertise ensured that the governance framework was tailored to Haleon’s industry context, embedding best practices for healthcare marketing compliance. The Revizor platform became a unifying backbone for Haleon’s marketing governance, providing continuous oversight in place of periodic, manual checks.
Barriers
Implementing this new governance model was not without challenges. Haleon and Uptitude encountered and addressed several key barriers:
Cultural shift: Moving from a reactive, problem-solving mindset to a structured, proactive risk management approach required significant change management. Teams had to adopt new ways of working, where compliance is built into day-to-day activities rather than firefighting when required. This meant training and sensitization so that governance is seen as a Marketing responsibility, not just a regulatory hurdle.
Technology integration: Embedding the Revizor tool into diverse marketing workflows (across different regions and business units) took sustained effort. Uptitude and Haleon conducted extensive onboarding to get geographically dispersed teams comfortable with the dashboards and processes. Ensuring data from Revizor synced with Haleon’s internal systems was crucial for user buy-in – people needed to trust that the tool’s findings were accurate and relevant to their local context.
Global consistency vs. local nuance: Designing a framework flexible enough to account for market-specific regulations and business needs, while enforcing global minimum standards, was a delicate balance. For example, a claim or social post acceptable in one country might violate guidelines in another. The governance model had to allow local adaptation (so marketing remains effective and culturally appropriate) within the boundaries of global policies. Close collaboration between central governance leads and local marketing/regulatory teams was necessary to refine rules and tolerances in the system.
Impact
By adopting a technology-supported, globally coordinated model, Haleon achieved a step-change in its marketing governance. The partnership with Uptitude delivered several notable benefits:
Tangible Results: Empowering Local Teams and Reducing Risk
The implementation of the governance framework has significantly reduced compliance risks in targeted areas. Previously, markets faced a stream of recurring issues; now, they feel empowered and in control. Dashboards and data visualizations help teams set clear priorities, while embedded guidance provides actionable steps. The Governance Score offers a concrete, trackable metric—enabling teams to celebrate progress and gain recognition for strong local leadership.
Operational Efficiency: Proactive Risk Management Over Reactive Firefighting
By identifying, measuring, and prioritizing risks early, the framework enables teams to act before issues escalate. The time invested in routine compliance hygiene is far less disruptive than managing crises or responding to audit-driven CAPAs. This alignment between Governance and Marketing goals allows marketers to focus on building impactful campaigns rather than resolving compliance failures. This visibility is precisely why 64% of companies invest in compliance technology—to gain better oversight—and 53% cite faster issue detection (source: pwc.com).
Measurable Impact: A Governance Score That Drives Accountability
Measuring risk is inherently complex—especially for Marketing leaders who need simple, actionable targets. The Governance Score addresses this by combining relevant criteria and objective data, replacing subjective assessments with a holistic, quantifiable view. It enables the setting of clear thresholds, encourages continuous improvement, and rewards teams that consistently meet compliance expectations. This approach supports the broader industry trend: 64% of firms report improved risk oversight and 53% faster issue identification (source: pwc.com).
Strategy-Driven Governance: From Firefighting to Forward Planning
With fewer reactive issues, teams have shifted focus toward strategic risk planning. This includes proactively identifying emerging risks, enhancing cross-regional collaboration, and refining policies and standards. The governance loop is now fully integrated: risk plans define priorities and metrics, Revizor measures performance at scale, and scorecards equip local teams to act decisively. This shift marks a transformation from a reactive, bottom-up model to a proactive, top-down, data-driven approach.
Governance as a Business Enabler
Perhaps the most meaningful shift is in perception: governance is no longer seen as a blocker, but as a strategic enabler that safeguards brand integrity. The combination of scoring, strategic alignment with Marketing, and visible impact has elevated Governance’s role. It now supports Haleon’s broader objectives of trust, efficiency, and compliance. Marketers and executives recognize that strong governance empowers growth by preventing costly missteps. This reflects a broader industry sentiment—74% agree that risk and compliance enhance business performance (source: secureframe.com). At Haleon, governance insights are now embedded in campaign planning and market entry decisions.
These improvements collectively strengthen Haleon’s position in an environment where regulatory missteps can be costly. (For perspective, regulators worldwide issued over $2.8 billion in fines for misleading marketing practices in 2024 alone (source: performline.com, underscoring the importance of getting governance right.) By integrating governance into its operations, Haleon is protecting its brand trust and unlocking agility – turning compliance into a competitive advantage. This transformation also helps future-proof the company amid a rapidly changing compliance landscape.
Future-Proofing Global Compliance
Haleon’s experience highlights a wider shift in how organizations manage the Digital transformation and prepare for the future of global commerce. The compliance landscape is evolving fast: privacy became a prominent matter, accessibility legislations are on the rise, generative AI introduce wider complexity in rights management (source: performline.com). Even in an era of talk about deregulation, marketing compliance remains critical – enforcement is often simply shifting to different regulators or stricter local authorities, and consumer expectations for honesty and transparency are higher than ever (source: performline.com). Notably, when one jurisdiction relaxes rules, others tighten theirs; for example, state regulators led 65% of U.S. enforcement actions in 2024 while federal oversight was in flux (source: performline.com). In the UK, regulators like the ASA have become proactive through technology – scanning 28 million ads in 2024 and intervening to amend or remove over 33,000 of them (source: lexology.com). This all signals that companies operating globally must stay vigilant and build compliance into their strategy, not treat it as an afterthought.
For businesses in highly regulated or multi-market sectors (like consumer healthcare and pharma), technology-enabled governance is emerging as a key to staying competitive. It offers ways to:
Adapt quickly to regulatory change: By monitoring evolving laws and standards in real time, companies can update practices and content fast, rather than being caught off-guard. This agility is vital as new requirements (from data privacy to digital advertising rules) proliferate across trade zones.
Improve resilience and oversight: Centralised governance frameworks, supported by tools like dashboards and analytics, provide unified oversight across supply chains and marketing campaigns. This improves organizational resilience – issues in any market are flagged and addressed before they escalate. The result is a more transparent, accountable operation that partners and regulators can trust.
Support international growth without losing control: Strong governance allows a business to scale into new regions confidently. When standards and processes are consistent, companies can pursue market expansion and digital innovation knowing that compliance “guard rails” are in place. In essence, you can go faster because you’re not constantly worrying about unseen compliance gaps derailing your plans.
In Haleon’s case, its governance revamp became not just a protective function but a driver of trade readiness and sustainable expansion – exactly what forward-looking international strategies require. As global trade becomes increasingly digital and interconnected, Uptitude’s collaboration with Haleon demonstrates the value of a reliable GRC partner. With deep expertise and purpose-built technology, such a partner can help companies navigate the changing compliance landscape and turn governance into a source of strength. Ultimately, the lesson is clear: robust marketing governance is no longer merely about avoiding fines or sanctions; it’s about enabling agility, building stakeholder trust, and ensuring long-term success in the global marketplace (source: performline.com.)
Sources:
PwC Global Compliance Survey 2025 – Rising complexity of multi-jurisdiction compliancepwc.compwc.com
PwC Global CEO Survey – 64% of CEOs see regulation as a barrier to innovationpwc.com
Secureframe Compliance Statistics 2024 – Standardizing frameworks reduces complexity (49% agree)secureframe.com; 74% say compliance can enhance businesssecureframe.com
PerformLine 2025 Marketing Compliance Report – Surge in enforcement actions and fines for misleading marketingperformline.comperformline.com; Global regulators ramping up oversightperformline.com
Advertising Standards Authority (UK) Annual Report 2024 – Proactive monitoring of ~28 million ads led to 33k+ interventionslexology.com
Papirfly Pharma Marketing Compliance – 71% of consumers quit brands that break trustpapirfly.com.
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Sabina Ciofu is Associate Director – International, running the International Policy and Trade Programme at techUK.
Based in Brussels, she leads our EU policy and engagement. She is also our lead on international trade policy, with a focus on digital trade chapter in FTAs, regulatory cooperation as well as broader engagement with the G7, G20, WTO and OECD.
As a transatlanticist at heart, Sabina is a GMF Marshall Memorial fellow and issue-lead on the EU-US Trade and Technology Council, within DigitalEurope.
Previously, she worked as Policy Advisor to a Member of the European Parliament for almost a decade, where she specialised in tech regulation, international trade and EU-US relations.
Sabina loves building communities and bringing people together. She is the founder of the Gentlewomen’s Club and co-organiser of the Young Professionals in Digital Policy. Previously, as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community, she led several youth civic engagement and gender equality projects.
She sits on the Advisory Board of the University College London European Institute, Café Transatlantique, a network of women in transatlantic technology policy and The Nine, Brussels’ first members-only club designed for women.
Sabina holds an MA in War Studies from King’s College London and a BA in Classics from the University of Cambridge.
Policy Manager for International Policy and Trade, techUK
Daniel Clarke
Policy Manager for International Policy and Trade, techUK
Dan joined techUK as a Policy Manager for International Policy and Trade in March 2023.
Before techUK, Dan worked for data and consulting company GlobalData as an analyst of tech and geopolitics. He has also worked in public affairs, political polling, and has written freelance for the New Statesman and Investment Monitor.
Dan has a degree in MSc International Public Policy from University College London, and a BA Geography degree from the University of Sussex.
Outside of work, Dan is a big fan of football, cooking, going to see live music, and reading about international affairs.
Theo joined techUK in 2024 as EU Policy Manager. Based in Brussels, he works on our EU policy and engagement.
Theo is an experienced policy adviser who has helped connect EU and non-EU decision makers.
Prior to techUK, Theo worked at the EU delegation to Australia, the Israeli trade mission to the EU, and the City of London Corporation’s Brussels office. In his role, Theo ensures that techUK members are well-informed about EU policy, its origins, and its implications, while also facilitating valuable input to Brussels-based decision-makers.
Theo holds and LLM in International and European law, and an MA in European Studies, both from the University of Amsterdam.
Lewis' programmes cover a range of policy areas within Market Access (international trade regulation, sanctions and export controls, technical standards and product compliance, supply chains) and Consumer Tech (media and broadcast policy, consumer electronics, and connected home technology).
Prior to joining techUK, Lewis worked in government affairs and policy roles for international trade associations in Southeast Asia including the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce and the European Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia.
He holds an undergraduate degree in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge and an MSc in Public Policy & Management from SOAS University of London.
Tess joined techUK as an Policy and Public Affairs Team Assistant in November of 2024. In this role, she supports areas such as administration, member communications and media content.
Before joining the Team, she gained experience working as an Intern in both campaign support for MPs and Councilors during the 2024 Local and General Election, and working for the Casimir Pulaski Foundation on defence and international secuirty. She has worked for multiple charities, on issues such as the climate crisis, educational inequality and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG). In 2023, Tess obtained her Bachelors of Arts in Politics and International Relations from the University of Nottingham.
