# Brand narrative playbook Human Guide

## What This Is For
When to Use Defining or refreshing core messaging pillars. 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 narrative playbook 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 narrative playbook.
- 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 narrative playbook 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
- Defining or refreshing core messaging pillars.
- Translating positioning into talk tracks for different personas/channels.
- Auditing campaigns for narrative consistency.
- **Audience Grid** – ICP, persona, stage, key pain/aspiration.
- **Narrative Arc** – context, tension, resolution, proof, call-to-action.
- **Pillar Mapping** – tie each story beat to brand pillars and supporting evidence.
- **Proof Library** – customers, metrics, analyst quotes, product demos.
- **Adaptation Guide** – tone, length, channel tweaks, localization notes.
- **Narrative Framework**: See `references/narrative_framework.md` for the arc and audience grid.
- **Messaging hierarchy doc** with prompts.
- **Storyboard slides** for exec, sales, product, and customer marketing audiences.
- **QA checklist** ensuring each asset hits pillar + proof requirements.

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: When to Use, Framework, Templates, Tips, Supporting file: references/narrative_framework.md, The Narrative Arc, The Context (Status Quo), The Tension (The Villain), The Resolution (The Hero/Solution), The Proof (Evidence).

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
- Starting without a clear audience or goal.
- Asking for a final artifact before sharing examples or constraints.
- Accepting a generic first draft without checking it against the intended use.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Brand narrative playbook 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 gtmagents/gtm-agents skill entry for `brand-narrative-playbook`.

## 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 Narrative Playbook Skill

## When to Use
- Defining or refreshing core messaging pillars.
- Translating positioning into talk tracks for different personas/channels.
- Auditing campaigns for narrative consistency.

## Framework
1. **Audience Grid** – ICP, persona, stage, key pain/aspiration.
2. **Narrative Arc** – context, tension, resolution, proof, call-to-action.
3. **Pillar Mapping** – tie each story beat to brand pillars and supporting evidence.
4. **Proof Library** – customers, metrics, analyst quotes, product demos.
5. **Adaptation Guide** – tone, length, channel tweaks, localization notes.

## Templates
- **Narrative Framework**: See `references/narrative_framework.md` for the arc and audience grid.
- **Messaging hierarchy doc** with prompts.
- **Storyboard slides** for exec, sales, product, and customer marketing audiences.
- **QA checklist** ensuring each asset hits pillar + proof requirements.

## Tips
- Keep a “retire/refresh” log for outdated proof.
- Include “watch-outs” for overused phrases or compliance issues.
- Pair with `define-brand-platform` to auto-populate pillar content.

---

---

## Supporting file: references/narrative_framework.md

# Brand Narrative Framework

## The Narrative Arc
Every campaign or asset should follow this emotional journey:

### 1. The Context (Status Quo)
*What is the world like today for the audience?*
> "Teams are drowning in data but starving for insights."

### 2. The Tension (The Villain)
*What is the painful problem or shift that makes the status quo unsustainable?*
> "Manual reporting is too slow. By the time you find the answer, the question has changed."

### 3. The Resolution (The Hero/Solution)
*How do we uniquely solve this tension?*
> "Our platform automates insights in real-time, turning data into decisions instantly."

### 4. The Proof (Evidence)
*Why should they believe us?*
> "Used by 500+ enterprises. 99.9% uptime. SOC2 certified."

### 5. The Call to Action (Next Step)
*What do we want them to do?*
> "Start your free trial today."

## Audience Adaptations
| Audience | Focus | Tone | Proof Point |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Executive** | ROI, Risk, Speed | Strategic, Direct | "Saved $1M in Q1" |
| **Practitioner** | Features, Ease of Use | Helpful, Technical | "Sets up in 5 mins" |
| **Developer** | API, Docs, Scale | Precise, No-fluff | "GraphQL support" |