| name | launch-campaign-planning |
| description | Select the right launch format (blitz / launch-week / full-week) and produce a structured phase plan for a discrete product or feature launch. |
| triggers | ["launch format selection","blitz vs launch week","structure a launch","launch campaign plan","how long should our launch be","launch format decision"] |
| role | growth |
| layer | growth |
| version | 0.2.0 |
| sources | ["Reforge Growth Series — Reforge (2023–2024)","aether-launch-copilot knowledge base — aether (2026)"] |
| borrowed_from | null |
Launch Campaign Planning
Purpose
Selects the right launch format for a discrete product or feature launch, then generates a structured phase plan: daily task list, market lane assignments, and human gate schedule. Operates before execution begins — this is the upstream planning skill; pmm/launch covers technical go-live QA and pmm/launch-readiness-review covers the readiness gate.
Built for PMMs and growth leads who need to structure a launch in under 2 hours without guessing at format or sequencing.
Inputs
| Input | Required? | Description |
|---|
| Product / feature name | Required | What is being launched |
| Launch scope | Required | Single market / multi-market / global |
| Markets in scope | Required | List of markets; flag which are localization-required |
| Team size | Required | Number of people available for active launch monitoring |
| Content depth | Required | Number of distinct feature or narrative angles available |
| Timeline available | Required | Days from now to target launch date |
| Enterprise pipeline goal | Optional | Whether ABM pipeline generation is a primary goal |
| Partner co-marketing | Optional | Whether a confirmed partner is participating |
| Brain context | Optional | Prior launch retro data, channel performance history |
Brain read (if connected):
brain/read: prior_launch_retros, channel_performance, market_activation_history
Outputs
| Output | Format | Description |
|---|
| Format recommendation | Markdown decision record | Selected format with rationale and decision matrix scores |
| Phase plan | Markdown table | Day-by-day task list with owners and market assignments |
| Human gates schedule | Markdown checklist | Named gate events with deadline and approver |
| Pre-production timeline | Markdown checklist | D-14 / D-7 / D-1 milestones |
Brain write (if connected):
brain/write: launch_format_selected, phase_plan_summary, human_gates_list
Decision Logic
P0 Vetoes — check before any format decision
IF team_size < 5 AND timeline < 7d
THEN: Recommend Blitz (3 days). Full Week and Launch Week both require sustained staffing.
IF localization_required_markets = 0
THEN: Block Full Week. Full Week is only justified by multi-market localization complexity.
IF content_depth < 3 distinct angles
THEN: Recommend Blitz. Do not pad a launch to 5 or 7 days with thin content.
IF product_market_fit_confirmed = false
THEN: Recommend Blitz. Do not amplify unvalidated positioning at scale.
Format Selection Matrix
| Signal | Blitz (3d) | Launch Week (5d) | Full Week (7d) |
|---|
| Localization-required markets | 0 | 0–1 | 2+ |
| Team size | ≤5 | 5–8 | 9+ |
| Content angles | 1–2 | 3–5 | 6+ |
| Enterprise pipeline goal | No | No | Yes |
| Partner co-marketing | No | Optional | Confirmed |
| Prep window available | <7d | 7–13d | 14d+ |
Decision rule:
- 4+ Full Week signals → Full Week
- 2–3 Full Week signals, market scope is the driver → Full Week eligible
- Default → Launch Week if ≥3 Launch Week signals; Blitz if <3
Phase generation rules
FOR each day in selected format:
assign: label, 2–3 priority tasks scoped to product context
assign: markets active on that day
assign: owner role (HQ / local-team / all)
D-1: ALWAYS = pre-launch sync, asset delivery confirmation, readiness check
D0: ALWAYS = hero announcement + primary channel activation
Final day: ALWAYS = metrics review + retrospective trigger
Enforced constraints:
- D2 (Full Week) is always local-team-led — HQ must not drive market-day content
- Human gates cannot be removed — they are structural, not optional checkpoints
- Format selection is locked before phase generation begins — do not mix format templates
Cross-Review Triggers
Required before FINAL:
Conditionally required:
Shared-skill consultation
shared-skill: foundations/shared-skills/
signal-direction: growth → pmm
purpose: confirm market coordination model and local team availability before format selection
Example Usage
Example 1: Single-market SaaS feature launch
Context: B2B SaaS startup, 4-person marketing team, launching a new analytics dashboard feature. US-only market. 10 days of prep time. Two distinct content angles (feature depth + use case).
Input:
- Markets: US only
- Team: 4 people
- Content angles: 2 (feature + use case)
- Prep window: 10 days
- Enterprise goal: No
Output:
FORMAT: Blitz (3 days)
RATIONALE: US-only scope, 2 content angles, team <5 — Launch Week would require padding.
PHASE PLAN:
D-1 | Pre-launch | Finalize blog post, set publish timer, confirm Product Hunt listing
D0 | Hero Day | Blog + HN + LinkedIn + email blast; founder posts personal take
D1 | Depth Day | Use case post + changelog entry; respond to all D0 community engagement
D2 | Wrap | Metrics snapshot; retro doc drafted
HUMAN GATES:
- [ ] D-1: CEO approves hero blog post (final version)
- [ ] D0: Founder personal post goes live within 2h of blog publish
Reviews triggered: pmm/launch-readiness-review
Example 2: Multi-market developer tool launch
Context: Developer tools company, 8-person PMM + DevRel team. Launching v2.0 with breaking API changes. Markets: US, Germany, Japan. 14 days prep. 5 content angles.
Input:
- Markets: US (english-first), Germany (localization-required), Japan (localization-required)
- Team: 8 people
- Content angles: 5
- Prep window: 14 days
- Enterprise goal: No
Output:
FORMAT: Full Week (7 days)
RATIONALE: 2 localization-required markets (DE, JP) require local activation on D2; 5 content
angles fill D0–D4 without padding; 14-day prep window meets minimum.
PHASE PLAN:
D-1 | Pre-launch | Global sync; asset delivery to DE/JP teams; war-room doc live
D0 | Hero Day | Announcement + PH + HN (HQ); DE/JP teams launch local at local optimal time
D1 | Depth Day | API migration guide; technical blog (HQ)
D2 | Market Day | DE: local-language developer community activation per DE market policy (DE team) | JP: local-language developer community activation per JP market policy (JP team)
D3 | Use Case Day | Customer story; HQ + local customer stories if available
D4 | Partner Day | Integration announcement (if confirmed partner)
D5 | Community Day | AMA; amplify user-generated content
D7 | Retro Day | KPI review; market-by-market summary; decisions list
HUMAN GATES:
- [ ] D-7: DE and JP teams confirm local content is finalized
- [ ] D0: Founder personal post approved
- [ ] D0: Each local team lead confirms market went live
- [ ] D4: Partner comms approved by partner (if applicable)
Reviews triggered: pmm/launch-readiness-review, pmm/multi-market-launch-ops
Example 3: Pre-PMF product launch (blitz forced)
Context: Early-stage startup, 3 people total, launching an MVP to a developer community. Product-market fit not confirmed. 5 days prep. One core angle.
Input:
- Markets: US (english-first)
- Team: 3 people
- Content angles: 1
- Prep window: 5 days
- PMF confirmed: No
Output:
FORMAT: Blitz (3 days)
RATIONALE: P0 veto applied — PMF not confirmed. Blitz limits exposure while learning. 1 content
angle cannot support Launch Week without padding. 3-person team cannot staff 5 days of monitoring.
PHASE PLAN:
D0 | Hero Day | Show HN + blog post + founder personal post on X; one CTA only (try it)
D1 | Depth Day | Respond to all D0 feedback; publish first changelog entry with fixes
D2 | Wrap | Metrics snapshot; qualitative feedback summary; go/no-go on next format
HUMAN GATES:
- [ ] D0: Founder personally posts Show HN (not delegated)
- [ ] D2: Go/no-go decision on continuing with full campaign vs. pausing for product iteration
Reviews triggered: pmm/launch-readiness-review
Campaign asset dependency table
A launch campaign produces multiple interdependent assets. Producing them out of order — or simultaneously without a locked core message — causes revision loops that consume more time than the parallelism saves. This table captures every asset, what it requires as input, what it unblocks downstream, and its production priority.
| Asset | Required input | Produces / feeds | Priority |
|---|
| Campaign brief | ICP card + positioning doc | All downstream assets | P0 — must be first |
| Core message (1 sentence, ≤15 words) | Campaign brief | Hook variants, ad copy, email subject | P0 — lock before any copy |
| Hook variants (3–5 alternatives) | Core message | Social posts, ad headlines, email openers | P1 |
| Long-form anchor content (post/article/video) | Core message + hook variants | Short-form cuts, distribution references | P1 |
| Short-form cuts (3–5) | Long-form anchor | Social distribution queue | P2 |
| Email copy | Campaign brief + hook variants | Email channel | P2 |
| Ad creative brief (if paid channel included) | Hook variants | Paid creative assets | P2 |
Production order rule: Campaign brief → Core message → Hook variants → Long-form → Short-form cuts. Do not produce short-form before long-form exists. Do not produce hook variants before core message is locked.
BLOCK conditions
IF campaign brief does not reference an ICP card
BLOCK. Return:
"Campaign brief missing ICP reference. Cannot determine correct hook angle or
audience. Run pmm/icp-research first."
WARN conditions
IF >4 assets are in production simultaneously AND core message is not locked
WARN. Return:
"Lock core message before producing downstream assets — all assets will require
revision if core message changes."
Anti-patterns
| Anti-pattern | Why it fails | Fix |
|---|
| Producing social posts before locking the core message | Every asset will carry a slightly different angle; revision cost exceeds any parallelism gain | Lock core message (P0) before any P1/P2 asset work begins |
Validation Criteria
Output passes if:
Output fails if:
Benchmarks
| Metric | Benchmark | Source |
|---|
| Blitz launch — Product Hunt top 10 | Achievable for products with ≥500 pre-registered waitlist | Reforge Growth Series, 2023 |
| Launch Week — D0 blog views | 5,000–20,000 (growth stage); 1,000–5,000 (early stage) | aether-launch-copilot knowledge base, 2026 |
| Full Week — multi-market activation | 3+ localization-required markets needed to justify 7-day format | aether-launch-copilot knowledge base, 2026 |
| Pre-production window — Full Week | D-14 minimum; D-21 recommended for 3+ localization markets | Reforge PLG Series, 2024 |
References & Sources
Tier-1 frameworks used:
- Reforge Growth Series — Reforge — 2023–2024 — Format selection heuristics, launch staffing ratios
Tier-2 operator repos referenced:
- aether-growth/campaign/knowledge/formats/ — format definitions, decision matrix, KPI calibration — internal
Tier-3 supplemental context:
- aether-growth/campaign/knowledge/tactics/ — tactic sequencing per format day — internal
Output metadata (append to every FINAL output):
---
Skill: launch-campaign-planning v0.2.0
Role: growth
Confidence: [0-100]
Review Trace: [list of reviews passed, or "DRAFT — pending: [list]"]
Bridge Signals: none
Brain Context: [connected / not connected]
Sources: Reforge Growth Series 2023–2024; aether-launch-copilot knowledge base 2026
Generated: [date]
---
