Cascade: Workflow Stages
Campaigns, Promotions and Cells in Cascade can be in one of several stages. These stages take the user through a workflow starting from creating a new Promotion to closing it after all the marketing has been done and results analysed. The stage that a Cascade item is in can be seen in the Workflow panel for Campaigns, Promotions and Cells.
An item in Cascade moves through the stages described below as different Cascade Actions are performed. The user can't move "forward" in the workflow (i.e. from Planning to Allocated) except by using the appropriate action. The user can however move "backwards" through the stages if the item needs to be modified.
The different stages are described below.
1. Planning
When a new item is created it is starts in the Planning stage. In this stage you can edit all the details for the item and Retrieve, Calculate and Run Promotions and Cells. When a Promotion is Run, it is moved from the Planning stage into the Allocated state. Also note that the Run, Calculate and Retrieve actions can only be used when in the Planning stage
2. Allocated
The allocate stage indicates that the records to promote have been chosen and assigned (by performing the Run action). All of the information for Promotions, Cells and Packs (except the Response Definition) is now fixed and can't be edited. This is because changing this information could have an impact on what records would be allocated. The Retrieve, Calculate and Run actions are now also disabled. However, the Store, Output and Calculate Responses actions can be used. If the Output action is performed, the stage is now moved onto either Output or Active, depending on the Promotion Date.
3. Output
The Output stage is very similar to the Active stage (below). The only difference is that the item should be in the Output stage if the current date is before the associated Promotion's "Promotion Date”. The Output stage is similar to the Allocated stage in that no information except for the Response Definition can be altered. In the Output stage, the Output action can still be used to regenerate the output files. The Store and Calculate Responses actions can also be used.
When the Promotion Date is reached the item should move automatically to the Active stage. Alternatively, the item can be moved to the Closed stage to indicate that it has been finished with.
4. Active
As described above, the Active stage is very similar to the Output stage, except that an item will only be in the Active stage if the current date is the same as or after the associated Promotion's "Promotion Date". As for the Output stage, no information except for the Response Definition can be altered. Also, the Output action is now not allowed (with only the Store and Calculate Responses actions now possible). Like an item in the Output stage, it can also be moved to the Closed stage to indicate that it has been finished with.
5. Closed
In the closed stage, no details (including the Response Definition) can be edited and no actions can be performed. The default Cascade Explorer filter also hides any Closed Campaigns
The stage for a particular item is based on its children. For example, if a Campaign has two promotions, one in the Planning stage and one in the Allocated stage, its stage will be Planning (the “lowest” of all its children). Once the second child promotion is moved into the Allocated stage then the Campaign will automatically move to the Allocated stage itself.