Build a promotion milestones tab with Gemini in Google Sheets

What This Does

You end up with one Milestones tab that lists every date a promotion depends on, from the brief to the agency through the offer end date. Gemini sets up the dropdowns, a Days Left column and the colors for what is coming up or late. You type the dates and owners, and you test the formulas against rows whose answers you already know. The Level 4 milestones digest reads this tab, so the column order matters.

Before You Start

• You use a Google Workspace business account with Business Standard or another eligible Gemini plan. Google's help page says Gemini in Sheets needs an eligible Google Workspace or Google AI plan. Look for Ask Gemini at the top right of an open sheet. If it is missing, ask your Workspace admin.
• Your file is a native Google Sheet. Google's page says Gemini works best on native Sheets files and that an Excel file needs File, Save as Google Sheets first.
• You use promotion codes and initials, not unreleased product names or retailer names. Launch and in-store dates are commercially confidential, and your AI policy may say which tools can hold them.

Steps

1. Create the tab and headers

Add a tab named Milestones. In row 1, type these five headers in this order: Promo (code), Milestone, Due Date, Owner, Done. Leave column F for Days Left. The five headers are the ones the Level 4 digest reads, so keep them exactly as written and keep Days Left outside them.

2. Open Gemini

Open the sheet and click Ask Gemini at the top right. Google's page says a side panel opens with suggested prompts and a prompt box at the bottom. Type your prompt and press Enter. Google's page also says this conversation is lost when you reload the browser or close the sheet, so insert anything you want to keep.

3. Ask for the dropdowns

Google's page lists adding a dropdown among the actions Gemini can take. Send:

"In the Milestones tab, add a dropdown to column B rows 2 to 200 with these options: Brief to agency, Proof due, Legal review due, Printer file date, Ship to stores, In-store date, Media start, Offer ends. Add a dropdown to column E rows 2 to 200 with the options No and Yes."

4. Ask for Days Left

Send:

"In column F, put the header Days Left. In F2 write a formula that returns the number of days from today to the date in C2, and returns nothing at all when B2 or C2 is empty. Fill it down to row 200."

Gemini's formula should look something like =IF(OR(B2="",C2=""),"",C2-TODAY()). Insert it only after you have read it.

5. Ask for the colors

Google's page lists conditional formatting among the actions. Send:

"Apply conditional formatting to A2:F200. Color a row amber when Done is not Yes and Days Left is between 0 and 14. Color a row red when Done is not Yes and Days Left is below 0. Leave rows with an empty Days Left uncolored."

6. Test on rows you can predict

Type four test rows, then check each result before you enter real work:

Change the first row's Done to Yes and the color should clear. If any test fails, tell Gemini what you saw and what you expected. Then test again. Delete the test rows when you are done.

Real Example

Scenario: You are loading milestones for an invented promotion coded SPRING-A.

What you do: Type SPRING-A in column A, choose Proof due from the dropdown in column B, enter the date from your agency's schedule in column C, type your initials in column D and leave Done as No.

What you get: A Days Left number that counts down each day and an amber row inside 14 days. The sheet is now ready for the digest to read. Dates still come from your own schedule, never from Gemini.

Tips

• Google's page says generated charts do not update when data changes. This guide uses formulas and formatting, which do update.
• If someone changes the milestone names in the dropdown, the digest may stop matching them. Change them in one place only.

Tool interfaces change. If a button has moved, look for similar Gemini options in the same menu area.