# Branding Human Guide

## What This Is For
Guides brand strategy: purpose, values, positioning, storytelling, voice, and visual identity. 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 Branding 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 branding.
- 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 Branding 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
- **Brand strategy**: Purpose, values, positioning, differentiation, target audience
- **Brand storytelling**: Origin story, hero's journey, narrative arc, brand archetypes
- **Brand voice & tone**: Voice, tone, avoid terms, preferred wording
- Brand visual identity**: Colors, typography, logo rules—strategy layer; implementation in **brand-visual-generator**, **logo-generator
- **Scope**: New brand, audit, or alignment
- **Touchpoints**: Website, social, product UI, directories, content
- **Existing assets**: Brand guide, logo, style guide
- **What**: Journey, founding, milestones, personal experiences that shaped the company
- **Why**: Emotional connection; 58% of customers buy based on company values
- **Elements**: Who founded it; why created; challenges overcome; vision; how it evolved
- **Protagonist**: Customer facing a challenge
- **Stakes**: What happens if nothing changes

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Scope, Initial Assessment, Brand Strategy Pillars, Brand Storytelling, Origin Story, Hero's Journey (Customer as Hero), Brand Narrative Arc, Brand Archetypes (12 Types), Brand Voice & Tone, Brand Visual Identity (Strategy Layer).

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
- **Brand voice & tone**: Voice, tone, avoid terms, preferred wording
- | **Avoid** | Buzzwords, terms to never use | "streamline," "revolutionize," "synergy" |
- **Product marketing context Section 8**: Document voice, tone, avoid, preferred terms. See **project-context** template.
- **Voice & tone**: Voice, tone, avoid, preferred
- | **Non-text accents** | Charts, shapes, dividers | Rotate accent colors; avoid arbitrary one-off hues outside palette |
- **Voice & tone** (voice, tone, avoid, preferred)
- **Design token table** (colors, type scale, spacing) when deliverable must be implementation-ready

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Branding 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 kostja94/marketing-skills skill entry for `branding`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Strategies: Branding

Guides brand strategy: purpose, values, positioning, storytelling, voice, and visual identity. Companies with consistent branding see 23–33% revenue lift; people remember stories ~22× more than facts alone. Use this skill when defining a new brand, auditing consistency, or aligning messaging across touchpoints.

**Keywords**: brand strategy, brand guidelines, visual identity, storytelling, brand voice, design tokens, slide deck, corporate identity, style guide, positioning

**When invoking**: On **first use**, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On **subsequent use** or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

## Scope

- **Brand strategy**: Purpose, values, positioning, differentiation, target audience
- **Brand storytelling**: Origin story, hero's journey, narrative arc, brand archetypes
- **Brand voice & tone**: Voice, tone, avoid terms, preferred wording
- **Brand visual identity**: Colors, typography, logo rules—strategy layer; implementation in **brand-visual-generator**, **logo-generator**

## Initial Assessment

**Check for project context first:** If `.claude/project-context.md` or `.cursor/project-context.md` exists, read Sections 2 (Positioning), 3 (Value Proposition), 8 (Brand & Voice), 12 (Visual Identity).

Identify:
1. **Scope**: New brand, audit, or alignment
2. **Touchpoints**: Website, social, product UI, directories, content
3. **Existing assets**: Brand guide, logo, style guide

## Brand Strategy Pillars

| Pillar | Purpose |
|--------|---------|
| **Brand purpose** | Why the brand exists beyond profit; one sentence |
| **Brand values** | 4–5 core values; what you stand for; differentiators |
| **Target audience** | Who you serve; ICP; jobs to be done |
| **Positioning** | For [customer] who [need], our [product] is a [category] that [benefit]. Unlike [competitor], we [differentiator] because [reasons] |
| **Differentiation** | Why you, not alternatives; concrete, not vague |

## Brand Storytelling

### Origin Story

- **What**: Journey, founding, milestones, personal experiences that shaped the company
- **Why**: Emotional connection; 58% of customers buy based on company values
- **Elements**: Who founded it; why created; challenges overcome; vision; how it evolved

### Hero's Journey (Customer as Hero)

| Element | Content |
|---------|---------|
| **Hero** | Your customer; their needs, wants, context |
| **Problem** | What they face; how they solve it now |
| **Inciting insight** | Reframing that creates urgency |
| **Brand's role** | Guide, tool, or partner—not hero; how you enable resolution |
| **Transformation** | What better future looks like; proof (case studies, testimonials) |

### Brand Narrative Arc

- **Protagonist**: Customer facing a challenge
- **Stakes**: What happens if nothing changes
- **Proof**: Data, case studies, testimonials
- **CTA**: Place call to action in the story; provoke action

### Brand Archetypes (12 Types)

| Archetype | Tone | Example |
|-----------|------|---------|
| **Creator** | Innovative, imaginative | Adobe |
| **Caregiver** | Nurturing, supportive | Johnson & Johnson |
| **Ruler** | Authoritative, premium | Mercedes-Benz |
| **Innocent** | Simple, optimistic | Coca-Cola |
| **Sage** | Wise, knowledgeable | Google |
| **Explorer** | Adventurous, independent | Patagonia |
| **Outlaw** | Rebellious, disruptive | Harley-Davidson |
| **Magician** | Transformative, visionary | Disney |
| **Hero** | Courageous, determined | Nike |
| **Lover** | Passionate, sensual | Chanel |
| **Jester** | Playful, fun | M&M's |
| **Everyman** | Relatable, down-to-earth | IKEA |

Align archetype to customer personality; strengthens storytelling.

## Brand Voice & Tone