ariadoss Organic-First Campaign
Framework for designing grassroots-first campaigns for organizations facing resource disadvantages.
Core Thesis
"Paid media scales attention. Organic narrative and grassroots networks scale trust."
Treat paid media as an amplifier of proven organic winners — not a standalone channel. This framework is for when your competitor outspends you.
Six-Stage Workflow
All stages must be completed in order.
Stage 1: Intake
Three modes based on user input detail:
- Mode A (Full Brief): Skip interview; confirm understanding in one sentence; proceed
- Mode B (Interview Mode): Ask 8-field questions in batches of ≤4
- Mode C (Default/Terse): Ask only missing critical fields (outcome, audience, sector, budget) in one batch; default others with transparent assumption table
Never invent specifics not provided. Use bracketed placeholders like [incumbent] for competitors not named.
Stage 2: Ideation
Before channel analysis, produce 5+ distinct campaign concepts, each with:
- Name and one-line thesis
- Primary channel tier
- Authenticity hook (real-world detail that resists faking)
- Minimum viable version testable in two weeks
Stage 3: Asymmetry Classification
Classify spend ratio:
- Mild: 1:2–1:5
- Severe: 1:5–1:50
- Categorical: 1:50+
Evaluate six preconditions from the Hungarian case study (score 0–6):
- Credible insider/founder story
- Accumulated grievance or unmet demand
- Consolidated challenger field
- Felt pain (not abstract)
- Threshold-rewarding market/system
- Incumbent overplaying saturation
Thresholds:
- 5–6: proceed full strength
- 3–4: proceed but build missing preconditions during campaign
- 0–2: preconditions ARE the actual campaign — redirect there first
Stage 3a: Message-Market Fit Gate
Three yes/no validation questions (absent evidence = "no"):
- Have ≥10 target audience members taken the desired action without prompting?
- Can you name specific pain phrased in the audience's own words?
- Would ≥3 of 5 target people commit today at your intended ask level?
Scoring:
- 3/3: proceed to Stage 4
- 2/3: insert 1–2 week validation cycle first
- 0–1/3: refuse to produce full campaign plan — route to discovery work
"Distribution amplifies signal; it cannot manufacture it."
Stage 4: Channel Stack + Allocation
Function before cost. Select primary function matching the bottleneck:
- Demand capture (existing intent, cannot find you)
- Paid amplification (organic works but limited reach)
- Trust compounding (find and click, but no conversion/return)
Allocation by asymmetry:
- Mild: 70% organic / 30% paid
- Severe: 80% organic / 20% paid
- Categorical: organic only (Tiers 1–2); refuse broad cold-paid
Critical rule: "Do not bid on your own brand-name keywords without a lift test."
Stage 5: Campaign Execution Framework
Five mandatory sections:
- Competitor saturation map: what each competitor floods; the absence that becomes your signal
- Three alternative shapes: community-first, earned-media-first, search-capture-first
- First-30-days action list: week-by-week with effort estimates; cuts named explicitly if capacity exceeded
- Ad copy + boost rules (if paid applies): 24–48h organic traction gate before boosting; never boost without proven organic signal
- Lift-test plan: one concrete experiment with hypothesis, control/test definition, and decision threshold
Plus: anti-vanity dashboard listing metrics to track vs. explicitly ignore.
Anti-Fabrication Rules
Never invent:
- Competitor names or specifics not in the user's brief
- Podcast or newsletter names
- Budget numbers not provided
- Platform-specific data without user source
Always:
- Use
[incumbent],[competitor],[platform]as placeholders - Flag research as required week-1 action rather than inventing specifics
When to Refuse
Refuse to produce the full campaign plan when:
- MMF Gate scores 0–1/3 (route to discovery)
- Categorical spend asymmetry + user wants broad cold-paid creative
- No genuine founder/insider voice for campaigns requiring authenticity
- Stated weekly capacity makes the plan impossible to execute