brand-guidelines

name

brand-guidelines

description

"Runs a structured brand intake interview then researches the brand to build a complete brand context document. Use whenever starting work on a new brand or when no brand-context.md exists in the project. Trigger on: 'run brand intake', 'build brand context', 'I'm working on a new client', or any creative strategy workflow where brand context is missing. Must run BEFORE any downstream skill (creative-brief, hook-writing, review-audit). This is the prerequisite context layer for all creative strategy work."

Brand Guidelines

Before Starting

No prerequisites — this skill is the entry point for all creative strategy.

Confirm before starting:

• You have access to the brand URL
• You can speak with the client or a brief is available
• No brand-context.md already exists in the project (if it does, load it rather than recreating it)

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This skill does two things in sequence:

1. Interviews the user to collect seed information about the brand
2. Researches the brand to build a comprehensive brand-context.md

The output feeds all downstream skills.

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Phase 1: Intake Interview

Ask all questions at once — do not drip them one by one.

Brand basics:

1. Brand name and website URL?
2. What product(s) are you running ads for?
3. Is there a specific product or line to focus on, or the full brand?

What you already know: 4. What do you know about the audience? (age, pain points, lifestyle, values) 5. Main competitors? 6. Any brand constraints? (compliance, tone, sensitive category)

Creative context: 7. Existing creative or messaging to keep in mind?

After answers: confirm and proceed to Phase 2.

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Phase 2: Research

Use web_search and web_fetch to fill the brand context document.

Research checklist:

• Brand story & origin (About page, founder story)
• Full product catalog (hero product, SKUs, bundles)
• Unique mechanism or differentiator
• Competitor landscape (3–5 competitors, positioning gaps)
• The alternative solution (what did customers do before this product?)
• Core audience(s) (primary + secondary)
• Brand voice & tone (adjectives, patterns, what they avoid)
• Creative constraints (confirmed vs. inferred)
• Must-know strategic context

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Phase 3: Build brand-context.md

# Brand Context: [Brand Name]
*Generated: [Date] | Focus: [Product or Full Brand]*

## Brand Overview
## Brand Story & Origin
## Product Catalog
| Product | Key Differentiator | Audience |
## What Makes Them Different
## Competitor Landscape
| Competitor | Their Positioning | How This Brand Differs |
## The Alternative Solution
## Core Audience(s)
## Brand Voice & Tone
## Creative Constraints
| Constraint | Confirmed/Inferred | Notes |
## Must-Know Strategic Context
## Research Notes — Sources + Gaps

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Phase 4: Deliver & Confirm

Save as brand-context-[brandname].md, present to user, flag gaps, ask:

"Does anything look off or need to be added? Once confirmed, this becomes the working context for all creative strategy on this brand."

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Related Skills

• 02-research/review-audit — next step after brand context confirmed
• 02-research/audience-research — deepen persona work
• 03-strategy/creative-brief — downstream output using brand context

For compliance checklist: See references/checklist.md