# Brand Strategy

> DesignAgent Guardrails (Contract Compliance)

- Skill: `ahaoai/brand-strategy` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add ahaoai/brand-strategy`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/ahaoai/brand-strategy/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: ahaoai (https://skillmd.com/u/ahaoai)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/ahaoai/brand-strategy

---

## DesignAgent Guardrails (Contract Compliance)

These are hard constraints. Do NOT violate:

- Do not skip any step in contract.json entry.steps
- Do not merge or reorder output sections
- Do not invent data or hallucinate facts
- Do not execute outside the defined step order
- If input is incomplete, ask only for missing required fields

---
name: brand-strategy
description: "Use when working on brand identity, logo design, brand platform, naming, visual identity systems, brand guidelines, or rebranding projects. Chinese triggers: 品牌设计/LOGO设计/品牌定位/品牌视觉/VI设计/品牌升级. Activates brand-specific methodology layer on top of Double Diamond."
---

# Brand Strategy

## Non-Negotiable Rule
**HARD GATE: Brand strategy must precede brand expression.** Define what the brand IS (positioning, platform, personality) before designing what it LOOKS like. No logos before strategy.

## Overview
A domain-specific methodology layer for brand design. Brand work has its own logic — it starts with strategy before moving to expression. This skill layers on top of the DesignAgent linear flow (01-intake → 02-discover → 03-strategy → 04-generate → 05-review → 06-deliver → 07-learn) and adds brand-specific frameworks at each stage.

## When To Use
- Logo design or redesign
- Brand identity system creation
- Naming or renaming projects
- Brand platform development (purpose, vision, values)
- Brand guidelines or style guides
- Brand architecture (master brand, sub-brands, endorsed brands)
- Visual rebranding

## When NOT To Use
- "Make my logo 2px bigger" → revision, not strategy
- "What font is this?" → lookup, not strategy
- Quick social media graphics (use Lite mode)
- When the brand strategy already exists and just needs to be applied (reference it, don't recreate it)

## Brand-Specific Process

### Phase 1: Brand Research (overlays 02-discover)
Go beyond general user research into brand-specific territory:
- **Brand audit**: current brand perception, equity, strengths/weaknesses
- **Category audit**: how competitors position and express themselves
- **Cultural context**: what does this category look and feel like right now?
- **Brand heritage**: what equity exists that should be preserved?

### Phase 2: Brand Strategy (overlays 03-strategy)
Before designing what the brand looks like, define what the brand IS:

**Brand Positioning** (mandatory output):
```
For [target audience]
Who [need/desire]
Our brand is [category/frame of reference]
That [key benefit/differentiator]
Unlike [competitors/alternatives]
Because [reason to believe]
```

**Brand Platform** (produce as many as relevant):
- Purpose (why we exist beyond profit)
- Vision (what future we're building)
- Mission (what we do every day)
- Values (what we believe)
- Brand Promise (what customers can count on)
- Brand Personality (if the brand were a person)
- Tone of Voice (how the brand speaks)

**Strategic Models** — use these as lenses, not rigid templates:
- **Keller's Brand Equity Pyramid**: check each layer (Identity → Meaning → Response → Resonance)
- **Kapferer's Brand Prism**: check all six facets (Physique, Personality, Culture, Relationship, Reflection, Self-image)
- **Aaker's Brand Identity Model**: check four perspectives (Product, Organization, Person, Symbol)

### Phase 3: Brand Identity Design (overlays 04-generate)
Brand identity is a system, not a logo:

- **Core identity**: logo (primary, secondary, mark, wordmark), color system, typography system
- **Extended identity**: imagery style, graphic devices, iconography, motion principles, sound
- **Brand architecture**: master brand → sub-brands → product brands relationships
- **System flexibility**: how does the identity stretch across contexts? Coherence without rigidity?

### Phase 4: Brand Expression (overlays 04-generate → 05-review → 06-deliver)
- **Creative platform**: the big idea that drives campaigns — not one execution, but a repeatable creative territory
- **Applications**: show the identity working across key touchpoints (packaging, digital, print, environment, motion)
- **Guidelines**: usage rules that empower, not restrict — dos, don'ts, rationale

### Phase 5: Brand Asset Management (overlays 06-deliver → 07-learn)
- What brand assets exist? Where do they live? Who owns them?
- Guidelines are living documents — how will they be updated?

## Rationalization Prevention

| Excuse | Reality |
|--------|---------|
| "It's just a logo, strategy is overkill" | A logo without strategy is decoration. The client will ask "why" and you need answers. |
| "The brand models are academic fluff" | Keller, Aaker, and Kapferer exist because they work. Use at least one. |
| "I'll do the positioning after I sketch the logo" | Brand before mark. Strategy drives expression, not the other way. |

## Red Flags
- You started sketching before writing positioning
- The identity has no conceptual link to the brand platform
- You can't explain why this logo solves this brand's specific problem

## Verification
- [ ] Brand positioning statement written
- [ ] Brand platform documented (at minimum: purpose, personality, promise)
- [ ] At least one strategic model applied (Keller, Kapferer, or Aaker)
- [ ] Identity system shown across at least 3 different applications
- [ ] Every design decision traceable to a strategic choice