The category tree is the backbone of Mercury. It not only maps your organization but saves you massive amounts of time through intelligent data distribution.
What are categories?
Think of categories as intelligent folders. They don't just organize items (like on your PC), they actively manage rules:
- Structure: Map locations, clients, or products hierarchically to any depth.
- Intelligence: Categories control permissions, conditions, and settings for all campaigns contained within them.
Example structure:
Frankfurt > Client A > Furniture > Tables > 2025
Your 3 advantages
- Quick orientation: Every user knows exactly where campaigns and reportings are located.
- Secure access: You control exactly who can see or edit which "branch" of the tree.
- Central data: Store fee models or invoice data once at the top – they automatically apply to everything below.
The "Inherit" principle
In Mercury, data automatically flows from top (parent category) to bottom (child category). You define a setting once at the top, and it applies to the entire branch.
How this affects you (Examples)
We use the following structure: Client A (top) > contains Product Category 1 > contains Product 2 (bottom).
1. Passing down data (Standard case)
You store a 5% fee model for Client A.
➔ Result: Product Category 1 and Product 2 automatically inherit the 5%.
2. Controlling permissions
A user is granted the "Media planning" right starting only at Product Category 1.
➔ Result: They can plan there and in Product 2. They cannot see the parent Client A.
3. Defining exceptions (Overwriting values)
Product Category 1 has a 2% Publisher cash discount. For the specific Product 2, you manually enter 0%.
➔ Result: At the bottom, the specific value wins. Product 2 has 0% discount.
4. Adding items (Additive)
Client A has a tracking component. Product 2 gets an additional component added.
➔ Result: In Product 2, both components are active.
Note: Sensitive settings (roles, fees) are usually managed by administrators.