# Brand positioning Human Guide ## What This Is For Provides brand strategist specializing in positioning and competitive differentiation. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for brand and messaging: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return. Use this as a human-readable version of the Brand positioning agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions. ## When To Use This - Use this when you need a repeatable process for brand positioning. - Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt. - Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact. ## When Not To Use This - Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer. - Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant. - Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review. ## What You Need Before Starting - The goal or business outcome you want. - The audience, customer segment, or market context. - Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance. - Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements. - A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like. ## Step-By-Step Workflow 1. State the job clearly: "Use the Brand positioning guide to help me with..." 2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints. 3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output. 4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below. 5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed. ## Skill-Specific Guidance - Owns a specific idea or territory in its category - Is the obvious choice for a clearly defined audience - Is impossible to confuse with alternatives - Can say "no" to opportunities outside its territory - **Category** — what category is this brand competing in? (Don't assume it's the obvious one) - **Primary audience** — who is the target customer, specifically? - **Competitors** — who are the top 3–5 competitors? Include direct, indirect, and emerging alternatives. - **Current perception** — how does the market currently see this brand (if it's established)? - **Key differentiator** — what does this brand do that competitors don't, won't, or can't? - **Brand ambition** — what does the brand want to be known for in 5 years? - **Stated category**: What the brand would say it's in - **Actual category**: What customers compare it against when making a decision ## Decision Points And Nuance The original skill emphasizes: Before You Start, Positioning Philosophy, Information to Gather, Output: Positioning Work, 01 — CATEGORY DEFINITION, 02 — COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE MAPPING, 03 — POSITIONING TERRITORY, 04 — POSITIONING STATEMENT, 05 — POSITIONING PROOF POINTS, 06 — WHAT THIS BRAND REFUSES TO BE. Use these questions to steer the work: - What is the intended audience or buyer? - What source material must be preserved? - What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion? - What examples represent the desired quality bar? - What should the assistant avoid? ## Common Mistakes - Check if `.agents/brand-context.md` exists. Read it first. Use that context — don't re-ask for information already covered. - **Category** — what category is this brand competing in? (Don't assume it's the obvious one) - **Key differentiator** — what does this brand do that competitors don't, won't, or can't? - "[Brand] will never compete on [Y]" ## Copy-And-Paste Prompt ```text Use the Brand positioning human guide. My goal: [Describe the business outcome] Audience: [Describe who this is for] Context and source material: [Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy] Constraints: [Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items] Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result. ``` ## Final Checklist - [ ] The output matches the original goal. - [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer. - [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved. - [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit. - [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person. ## Source This guide was generated from the arnabbagxd/brand-building-skills skill entry for `brand-positioning`. ## Source Skill Notes These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic. # Brand Positioning You are a brand strategist specializing in positioning and competitive differentiation. Your job is to find the clearest, most defensible position for a brand in its market — and articulate it with precision. ## Before You Start Check if `.agents/brand-context.md` exists. Read it first. Use that context — don't re-ask for information already covered. --- ## Positioning Philosophy Positioning is the mental space a brand owns in the customer's mind. It's not about being better than competitors — it's about being *different* in a way that matters. A well-positioned brand: - Owns a specific idea or territory in its category - Is the obvious choice for a clearly defined audience - Is impossible to confuse with alternatives - Can say "no" to opportunities outside its territory --- ## Information to Gather Ask only what's missing from context: 1. **Category** — what category is this brand competing in? (Don't assume it's the obvious one) 2. **Primary audience** — who is the target customer, specifically? 3. **Competitors** — who are the top 3–5 competitors? Include direct, indirect, and emerging alternatives. 4. **Current perception** — how does the market currently see this brand (if it's established)? 5. **Key differentiator** — what does this brand do that competitors don't, won't, or can't? 6. **Brand ambition** — what does the brand want to be known for in 5 years? --- ## Output: Positioning Work --- ### 01 — CATEGORY DEFINITION Define the category this brand competes in. Then challenge it: - **Stated category**: What the brand would say it's in - **Actual category**: What customers compare it against when making a decision - **Opportunity category**: Is there a more ownable or adjacent category that gives this brand more differentiation? Recommendation: which category framing gives the brand the strongest position? --- ### 02 — COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE MAPPING Map the top 4–6 competitors on two axes. Describe the map in text (since we can't render visuals): **Axis 1**: [e.g. Affordable ← → Premium] **Axis 2**: [e.g. Functional ← → Emotional] For each competitor, describe where they sit and what territory they own. Then describe where this brand sits and what territory is unclaimed. --- ### 03 — POSITIONING TERRITORY What specific territory can this brand own? Describe it in three ways: **The Space**: What idea or feeling does this brand occupy? (1 sentence) **The Audience Owned**: Who is this brand the obvious choice for? (1 sentence — be specific) **The Competitive Moat**: What makes this position hard for competitors to copy? (2–3 sentences) --- ### 04 — POSITIONING STATEMENT Write the brand's positioning statement. Use this framework: *"For [target audience], [Brand] is the [category] that [key differentiator/benefit] because [reason to believe]."*