Master Edit Promotions

Context:

Master Edit is the promotion editing feature that allows users to modify any field of an existing promotion via the same workflow you would go through if creating a new promotion.

To access, navigate to Promotions > Planning and click on your promotion. Open the Promotion Profile by clicking "Details," and then clicking the Master Edit button located at the bottom of the General Info tab. Users can also access Master Edit immediately after creating a promotion through the "Edit Previous" button that appears in the post-creation dialog. 

Key capabilities & limitations.

• Cannot delete promotions: Once a promotion is saved in Vividly, it cannot be permanently deleted by users. The only option is to cancel the promotion, which moves it to the Cancelled interface while maintaining a system record.

• Status change behavior: When a promotion is edited via Master Edit and the user lacks approval permissions for the new total expected spend, the promotion automatically reverts to "Pending" status and must go through the approval workflow again. This safeguard ensures that any modifications requiring approval are reviewed before taking effect.

• Audit trail tracking: Every change made through Master Edit is logged in the promotion's Activity Log, which records what was changed, who made the change, and a date/timestamp. This provides full visibility into the promotion's edit history for compliance and internal control purposes. 

Important fields that can be edited.

• Promotion Name: The identifier for the promotion, typically including retailer, product type, month, and year. Changing the name through Master Edit updates the promotion record but does not affect the system-generated Promotion ID. 

• Month & Year: Determines when the promotion's expected spend will be accrued financially. This field affects reporting periods and should reflect when you want the financial impact recorded, not necessarily when the promotion physically runs. 

• Customer & First Receiver: The retailer/customer and their associated distributor or point of distribution. When changing the customer field, the First Receiver automatically updates based on route-to-market mappings configured in the system. 

• Promotion Duration & Dates: The start and end dates of the promotion. Changes to these dates affect when the promotion automatically transitions between statuses (Pending → Running → Completed). 

• Fund Types and its field requirements: The type of promotional spending (Scan, Ad, Slotting, EDLP, etc.). Multiple fund types can exist within a single promotion as separate lines. 

• Product Group: Defines which products the promotion applies to. Users can select specific SKUs or broader product groups depending on the level of detail needed. 

• Status: Controls the promotion's workflow position (Pending, Submitted, Approved, Running, Completed, Cancelled). Status changes may be restricted based on user permissions and approval limits.

Steps on how to use the "Master Edit" function

1. Access the promotion profile

 

• Locate the promotion you need to edit using the search bar (type customer name, promotion name, or year) or Advanced Search (magnifying glass icon) to filter by multiple criteria.

• Once found, click the Details button of the promotion itself that you want to modify to open its Promotion Profile. 

2. Open the "Master Edit" page

• Inside the Promotion Profile, you'll see the General Info tab displaying all promotion details including the promotion name, customer, first receiver, duration, total expected spend, and who created/last modified it.

• Scroll down to the bottom of the General Info section to locate the Master Edit button.

• Click Master Edit to enter the four-step editing workflow (identical to the promotion creation process). 

3. Edit Step 1: General information

• On Step 1, you can modify basic promotion identifiers: Promotion Name, Month & Year, Customer, and First Receiver.

• To change any of these fields, click on them and type or select the corresponding option in order to edit it.

• Click "Continue" button to proceed to Step 2. 

4. Edit Step 2: Promotional lines & details

• On Step 2, review and edit the "meat and potatoes" of your promotion—the fund types, product items and groups, rates, units, and dates.

• To change the Fund Type, click the Fund Type dropdown for the relevant line and select a different promotional activity type (Scan, Ad, EDLP, etc.).

• To modify the Product Group, click the Product Group dropdown and select a different group or specific SKU. Use "All Products" only for lump-sum items like administrative fees.

• To change any of the fund types fields, click on them and type or select the corresponding option in order to edit it.

• To remove a line, click the delete/trash icon next to that line.

• Click "Next Step" button when all line details are correct. 

5. Edit Step 3: Attachments, comments, tags & status

• On Step 3, manage supporting documentation, internal comments, categorization tags, and promotion status.

• To add new attachments, drag and drop files (PDF, Excel, CSV) into the "Upload Files" section, or click to browse and select files.

• To mark a specific file as the contract, check the "Contract" checkbox next to that attachment after uploading.

• To add a comment, type your note in the Comments field and click Add Comment. Comments are timestamped and attributed to the user who wrote them, creating an audit trail.

• To add or change tags, select from the available tag categories (these are custom categories your company has configured, such as broker names, program types, or internal identifiers).

• To change the Status, click the Status dropdown and select the appropriate workflow state:

• • Pending: Initial state requiring approval.

  • Submitted: Ready for management review.

  • Approved: Approved and ready to run.

  • Running: Currently active (system-managed based on dates).

  • Completed: Finished (system-managed based on dates).

  • Cancelled: Removed from active consideration. 

    Note: If you lack approval permissions for the Total Expected Spend amount, you may not see "Approved" or "Declined" as status options. The promotion will revert to "Pending" and require approval from an authorized user.  

• Click Continue to proceed to the final review.

6. Edit Step 4: Review and Save Changes

• On Step 4, the review screen displays all promotion details as they will appear after saving: total expected spend, customer, dates, lines, and all fields from previous steps.

• If you notice an error, use your browser's back button or click Previous Step to return to earlier steps and make corrections.

• When all details are accurate, click Save Promotion to commit your changes.

• The promotion will update immediately, and the system will log your edits in the Activity Log with your user ID and timestamp. 

7. Verify changes and audit trail

• After saving, you'll return to the Promotion Profile view where you can verify changes took effect.

• Look for the "Last Modified" field in the General Info tab—it should now display your name and the current date/time.

• To view the full audit trail, click the Activity Log button at the right-upper corner of the promotion profile to see all changes made to the promotion, including what was changed, by whom, and when.

• If the promotion's status changed to Pending due to approval limit restrictions, notify the appropriate approver that the edited promotion requires review. 

Best practices for using the "Master Edit" function

• Document why you're editing": Before finish using Master Edit, add a comment in Step 3 explaining the reason for the change (e.g., "Updated spend rate per buyer's email 1/10/26" or "Corrected product group—original entry error"). The Activity Log tracks that a change occurred, but not always why it was necessary. Adding context through comments creates a complete audit trail that helps accounting, compliance teams, and future users understand the reasoning behind modifications. 

• Verify approval permissions before major edits: Before editing a promotion's spend rate or units that significantly increase Total Expected Spend, check whether you have approval authority for the new amount. If unsure, coordinate with an approver before making changes. Without this review, such edit can disrupt deduction pairing, reporting, and forecasting. 

• Use master edit instead of creating new promotions: When you discover an error in a saved promotion (wrong rate, incorrect date, missing product), always use Master Edit to correct the existing promotion rather than cancelling it and creating a new one. Every promotion receives a unique Promotion ID and Line ID that ties to deductions, actuals, and reporting. Cancelling and recreating breaks these connections, requiring manual repairing of deductions and creating confusion in your historical records. 

• Don't: edit past promotions without understanding deduction impact: Avoid editing promotions that are in "Completed" status and already have deductions paired to them, especially changes to spend rates, dates, or product groups, without coordinating with your deduction management team. When you modify a completed promotion that has deductions attached, you can inadvertently break the pairing logic, making previously matched deductions appear unmatched or creating variances between expected and actual spend.  

• Don't forget that status changes trigger automated workflows: Changing a promotion's status through Master Edit without understanding downstream impacts, particularly moving promotions from Running or Completed back to Pending, or moving future promotions directly to Approved without going through submission workflows. Promotion statuses control automated system behaviors—Running promotions appear in execution reports, Completed promotions are open for deduction matching, and Approved promotions automatically move to Running when their start date arrives. Manually changing statuses can bypass your organization's approval processes or cause promotions to disappear from expected interfaces.