brand-discovery

--- name: brand-discovery description: >- Use when a brand needs to discover or articulate its identity through structured multi-session interviews. Covers purpose, positioning, audience, personality, voice, narrative, and founder-brand tension across 8 modules using laddering, 5 Whys, and projective techniques. Produces a resumable session with disk-persisted state and a master brandbook (90_SYNTHESIS.md). --- # Brand Discovery Use this skill to conduct a structured, adaptive brand identity interview. The goal is a complete `90_SYNTHESIS.md` — a master brandbook the organization can use to brief designers, writers, and external collaborators. The interview runs across multiple sessions. Capture answers to disk as you go so that no elicited knowledge is lost when a conversation ends, and so a later session can resume from where the last one stopped. ## When to Activate - A brand is being created, repositioned, or needs a written identity reference to brief collaborators. - Multiple sessions are expected — the conversation will span days or weeks. - Multiple founders or stakeholders need individual interviews before a reconciliation pass. - The user wants a structured, repeatable method rather than an ad-hoc chat. - Existing brand documentation is scattered, implicit, or founder-dependent and needs to be made explicit. ## Session start protocol On every activation, perform these steps **before** asking any interview question: 1. **Check for prior progress.** Look for an existing set of module files and a `state.json` checkpoint in the project's brand-identity directory. If none exists, this is a fresh start — confirm the brand name, participants, and where to save the brand-identity files, then begin at the first module. 2. **Read the current module file** if one is in progress, and scan its Raw section for previously captured answers. 3. **Report to the user** in two or three sentences: which module we are in, its status, and what remains. Then ask: "Continue here, or switch module?" ## Interview discipline Apply these rules throughout every module: 1. **One question at a time.** Never present a list of questions. 2. **After each answer:** short paraphrase → one deepening probe OR close the thread if the topic is saturated. Never move on silently. 3. **Laddering:** for every "what" answer, follow with "Why does that matter to you?" until a core value surfaces (typically two to four iterations). 4. **5 Whys:** for beliefs or positioning claims — push until the root reason, not the surface declaration, is on the table. 5. **Detect thin answers:** if generic, jargon-heavy, or vague, ask for one concrete example, a client story, or a number. 6. **Projective techniques** (use once per module to break a plateau): - "If the brand were a person, how would they walk into a room?" - Brand obituary: "If the organization closed in five years, what would customers miss? What would you regret not having said?" - Competitive contrast: "Name one peer you admire but would never want to become. What specifically makes them the wrong model?" 7. **Saturation signal:** when two consecutive probes produce no new information, summarise and close the module. 8. **End of module:** write a structured module file with two sections: - `## Raw` — verbatim quotes and examples. - `## Synthesis` — your interpretation, three candidate formulations, open questions, contradictions between participants. Then update the `state.json` checkpoint (see State protocol below). ## Module sequence | File | Label | Frameworks used | |------|-------|-----------------| | `10_purpose-why.md` | Purpose / Why | Sinek Golden Circle, Lencioni | | `20_positioning.md` | Positioning | Dunford "Obviously Awesome", Moore template | | `30_audience-niche.md` | Audience & Niche | Baker "Business of Expertise", ICP | | `40_personality-archetype.md` | Personality & Archetype | Mark & Pearson 12 archetypes, J. Aaker 5 dims | | `50_voice-tone.md` | Voice & Tone | Brand voice guidelines | | `60_narrative-story.md` | Narrative / Story | Neumeier trueline, brand story arc | | `70_founder-tension.md` | Founder Brands vs Studio Brand | Enns "Win Without Pitching" | | `90_SYNTHESIS.md` | Master Brandbook | Kapferer prism, Aaker brand system | Complete modules in order. Honour a user request to jump modules and note the skip in `state.json`. ## State write protocol After each module reaches saturation or done status, write two files: **Module file** at `modules/{moduleFile}` — full Raw and Synthesis content. **`state.json`** — a lightweight checkpoint so a later session can resume. Update `completedModules`, `inProgressModule`, `nextModule`, `lastUpdated`. Schema: ```json { "session": "{brand_name}-brand-{YYYY-MM}", "outputPath": "{path_to_brand_identity_directory}", "completedModules": [], "inProgressModule": "10_purpose-why.md", "nextModule": "20_positioning.md", "participants": ["founder-A"], "lastUpdated": "{ISO-8601}" } ``` After writing, confirm: "Module X saved. State updated. Next: Y." **Terminal module (90_SYNTHESIS.md):** when writing the final synthesis, set `inProgressModule` to `"90_SYNTHESIS.md"` and `nextModule` to `null` in `state.json`. After writing, set `completedModules` to include `"90_SYNTHESIS.md"`, then set `inProgressModule` to `null` — leaving it populated would cause a future resumption to treat the completed brandbook as still in progress. Confirm: "Brandbook complete. All modules saved." ## Multi-founder mode When more than one founder participates, write each founder's answers to `founders/{participant}.md` instead of the main module files. Validate the `participant` name before writing: accept only alphanumeric characters and hyphens (e.g. `founder-a`, `anna`); reject names containing path separators (`/`, `\`, `..`) or special characters. Validate `moduleFile` against the enumerated module sequence (10 through 90 only). Validate `outputPath` to ensure it is an absolute path within the project directory — reject relative paths and paths that escape via `..` segments. After all founders complete a module, run a reconciliation pass: summarise convergences and divergences in the module file, flag "productive tensions" for the group alignment workshop. ## Anti-Patterns - **Starting without reading state first.** Every session must open by checking for existing module files and `state.json`. Skipping this loses all continuity from prior sessions. - **Asking multiple questions at once.** One question at a time is not optional — lists produce checklist answers, not real insight. - **Moving to Synthesis before saturation.** If the last two probes produced no new information, the module is done. If they did — it isn't. - **Skipping multi-founder reconciliation.** When multiple stakeholders are involved, individual interviews must complete before reconciliation. Discussing the brand collectively first introduces anchoring bias. - **Treating this as a one-shot session.** This skill is designed for multiple sessions. Rushing to `90_SYNTHESIS.md` in one conversation produces shallow output. ## Related Skills - `competitive-platform-analysis` — after brand-discovery establishes the positioning brief, use this to scope and categorise the competitor set. - `brand-voice` (ECC) — if the brand-discovery voice-and-tone module needs a separate, source-derived writing-style profile.

[{"step":"Gather foundational inputs. Collect the brand’s mission, vision, values, target audience, USP, and competitive landscape. If any details are missing, use the prompt to ask the AI to infer or research them.","tip":"For missing data, prompt the AI with: 'Research [BRAND_NAME] and provide their mission, vision, values, target audience, and competitive landscape. Use recent sources.'"},{"step":"Analyze the inputs. Ask the AI to break down the brand’s identity into core pillars (e.g., mission, values, USP) and identify gaps or inconsistencies. Use tools like SWOT analysis or brand archetype frameworks if needed.","tip":"Prompt the AI: 'Perform a SWOT analysis for [BRAND_NAME] based on the provided data. Identify 2-3 key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.'"},{"step":"Develop positioning strategies. Based on the analysis, ask the AI to suggest 2-3 actionable strategies to differentiate the brand. Ensure these strategies align with the brand’s pillars and audience pain points.","tip":"Use the prompt template to generate strategies, then refine them by asking: 'Which of these strategies would resonate most with [TARGET_AUDIENCE]? Why?'"},{"step":"Validate and refine. Review the AI’s output for feasibility, creativity, and alignment with the brand’s goals. Adjust placeholders or inputs as needed to tailor the results further.","tip":"For external validation, use the AI to generate a survey or interview questions for stakeholders: 'Create 5 questions to ask [BRAND_TEAM/CORE_CUSTOMERS] to validate the proposed brand positioning strategies.'"},{"step":"Implement and iterate. Use the AI’s insights to draft brand messaging, marketing campaigns, or internal alignment documents. Continuously test and refine based on performance data.","tip":"Ask the AI to generate a brand style guide or campaign brief: 'Create a brand messaging framework for [BRAND_NAME] based on the discovered pillars and positioning strategies.'"}]