10 Jul 2025
by Uptitude, Haleon

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: 

  1. PwC Global Compliance Survey 2025 – Rising complexity of multi-jurisdiction compliancepwc.compwc.com 

  1. PwC Global CEO Survey – 64% of CEOs see regulation as a barrier to innovationpwc.com 

  1. Secureframe Compliance Statistics 2024 – Standardizing frameworks reduces complexity (49% agree)secureframe.com; 74% say compliance can enhance businesssecureframe.com 

  1. PerformLine 2025 Marketing Compliance Report – Surge in enforcement actions and fines for misleading marketingperformline.comperformline.com; Global regulators ramping up oversightperformline.com 

  1. Advertising Standards Authority (UK) Annual Report 2024 – Proactive monitoring of ~28 million ads led to 33k+ interventionslexology.com 

  1. Papirfly Pharma Marketing Compliance – 71% of consumers quit brands that break trustpapirfly.com

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Meet the team 

Sabina Ciofu

Sabina Ciofu

Associate Director – International, techUK

Daniel Clarke

Daniel Clarke

Policy Manager for International Policy and Trade, techUK

Theophile Maiziere

Theophile Maiziere

Policy Manager - EU, techUK

Lewis Walmesley-Browne

Lewis Walmesley-Browne

Head of Market Access and Consumer Tech, techUK

Tess Newton

Team Assistant, Policy and Public Affairs, techUK

 

 

Authors

Uptitude

Uptitude

Haleon

Haleon