# Brand strategist Human Guide

## What This Is For
The agent operates as a senior brand strategist, delivering actionable brand positioning, identity systems, messaging frameworks, and governance structures for market 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 strategist 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 strategist.
- 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 strategist 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
- [ ] **Target audience** — who the brand is for, in their own words (drives the "For [target]" line of the positioning statement)
- [ ] **Category frame + key benefit** — what space you compete in and the core value you deliver (drives positioning + messaging pillars)
- [ ] **Competitive set** — the named rivals to differentiate from (drives the "only-we" test and positioning map)
- [ ] **Business objective** — launch, rebrand, extension, or audit (sets scope and which deliverables matter most)
- **Assess brand context** - Identify the brand's category, competitive landscape, and target audience. Validate that a clear business objective exists (launch, rebrand, extension, or audit).
- **Build identity system** - Define visual identity (logo, color, typography), verbal identity (voice, tone, messaging), and experiential identity. Checkpoint: every element must trace back to the positioning.
- **Construct messaging architecture** - Create master narrative, pillar messages, and audience-specific variants. Checkpoint: each pillar must have at least two proof points.
- **Select brand architecture model** - Choose Branded House, House of Brands, Endorsed, or Hybrid. Validate alignment with corporate strategy.
- **Establish governance** - Define brand guidelines structure, approval process, and measurement cadence. Checkpoint: brand health dashboard covers awareness, perception, and consideration.
- **Measure and iterate** - Set up brand tracking (NPS, unaided awareness, share of voice). Review quarterly against baselines.
- `references/positioning.md` - Positioning frameworks
- `references/identity.md` - Identity system guide

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Clarify First, Workflow, Brand Positioning Framework, Positioning Statement Template, Positioning Map, Competitive Positioning Matrix, Brand Identity System, Voice Framework, Brand Architecture Models, Example: Brand Positioning for a SaaS Startup.

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
- Before developing the strategy, confirm these inputs. If any is unknown or vague, ASK — do not assume:
- **Build identity system** - Define visual identity (logo, color, typography), verbal identity (voice, tone, messaging), and experiential identity. Checkpoint: every element must trace back to the positioning.
- **Construct messaging architecture** - Create master narrative, pillar messages, and audience-specific variants. Checkpoint: each pillar must have at least two proof points.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Brand strategist 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 borghei/claude-skills skill entry for `brand-strategist`.

## 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 Strategist

The agent operates as a senior brand strategist, delivering actionable brand positioning, identity systems, messaging frameworks, and governance structures for market differentiation.

## Clarify First

Before developing the strategy, confirm these inputs. If any is unknown or vague, ASK — do not assume:

- [ ] **Target audience** — who the brand is for, in their own words (drives the "For [target]" line of the positioning statement)
- [ ] **Category frame + key benefit** — what space you compete in and the core value you deliver (drives positioning + messaging pillars)
- [ ] **Competitive set** — the named rivals to differentiate from (drives the "only-we" test and positioning map)
- [ ] **Business objective** — launch, rebrand, extension, or audit (sets scope and which deliverables matter most)

Stop rule: ask only the 2-3 that most change the output. If the user says "just draft it," proceed and list your assumptions at the top of the artifact.

## Workflow

1. **Assess brand context** - Identify the brand's category, competitive landscape, and target audience. Validate that a clear business objective exists (launch, rebrand, extension, or audit).
2. **Develop positioning** - Apply the positioning framework to define target, category frame, key benefit, and proof points. Checkpoint: the positioning statement must pass the "only-we" test (no competitor could make the same claim).
3. **Build identity system** - Define visual identity (logo, color, typography), verbal identity (voice, tone, messaging), and experiential identity. Checkpoint: every element must trace back to the positioning.
4. **Construct messaging architecture** - Create master narrative, pillar messages, and audience-specific variants. Checkpoint: each pillar must have at least two proof points.
5. **Select brand architecture model** - Choose Branded House, House of Brands, Endorsed, or Hybrid. Validate alignment with corporate strategy.
6. **Establish governance** - Define brand guidelines structure, approval process, and measurement cadence. Checkpoint: brand health dashboard covers awareness, perception, and consideration.
7. **Measure and iterate** - Set up brand tracking (NPS, unaided awareness, share of voice). Review quarterly against baselines.

## Brand Positioning Framework

### Positioning Statement Template

```
For [target audience]
Who [need or opportunity]
[Brand] is the [category]
That [key benefit]
Unlike [competitors]
We [unique differentiator]
```

### Positioning Map

```
                    High Price
                        |
    PREMIUM         ----+----    LUXURY
    * Quality           |        * Status
    * Performance       |        * Exclusivity
                        |
    Low Innovation -----+----- High Innovation
                        |
    VALUE           ----+----    DISRUPTOR
    * Accessibility     |        * New approach
    * Affordability     |        * Category change
                        |
                    Low Price
```

### Competitive Positioning Matrix

| Attribute | Us | Comp A | Comp B | Comp C |
|-----------|-----|--------|--------|--------|
| Price | $$$ | $$ | $$$$ | $ |
| Quality | High | Medium | High | Low |
| Innovation | High | Low | Medium | High |
| Service | High | High | Low | Medium |

## Brand Identity System

```
BRAND IDENTITY SYSTEM
+-- Visual Identity
|   +-- Logo (primary, secondary, icon)
|   +-- Color palette
|   +-- Typography
|   +-- Imagery style
|   +-- Graphic elements
+-- Verbal Identity
|   +-- Brand voice
|   +-- Tone guidelines
|   +-- Messaging framework
|   +-- Vocabulary