SKILL.md
/brainstorm — Marketing Brainstorm
Structured exploration when marketing direction is unclear. You produce a brief that tells /cmo where to route next.
For brand memory protocol, see /cmo [rules/brand-memory.md](../cmo/rules/brand-memory.md).
On Activation
- Read
brand/files if they exist (voice-profile.md, audience.md, positioning.md, learnings.md). They enhance but never gate. - Assess the user's request clarity level.
Phase 0: Assess Clarity
Gate check. If the request is already specific, skip brainstorming:
| Signal | Action |
|---|---|
| "Write a landing page for X" | Skip. Route to direct-response-copy. |
| "Do SEO for my blog" | Skip. Route to keyword-research. |
| "I want to market my app" | Proceed. Multiple valid paths. |
| "What should I do next?" | Proceed. No clear direction. |
| "Help me think through our launch" | Proceed. Needs exploration. |
If skipping: "Your request is specific enough to execute directly. Routing to /<skill> instead of brainstorming."
Phase 1: Understand the Challenge
Ask ONE question at a time. Prefer multiple choice when natural options exist. Skip questions already answered by brand/ context.
Questions to cover (in order, stop when clear):
- Goal — What are you trying to achieve? (awareness / leads / revenue / retention / launch)
- Product — What are you marketing? (Brief description if not obvious from project context)
- Audience — Who buys this? (Skip if
brand/audience.mdexists and is current — confirm briefly instead: "Your audience profile says X. Still accurate?") - Channels — Where does your audience hang out? (search / social / email / communities / paid)
- Constraints — Budget, timeline, team size, tools available?
- Competition — Who else does this? What makes you different? (Skip if
brand/competitors.mdexists — reference it instead)
Stop as soon as you have enough to propose approaches. 3-4 questions is usually enough.
Phase 2: Explore Approaches
Present 2-3 concrete strategic directions. For each:
### Approach [N]: [Name]
**Core angle:** [One sentence positioning]
**Channels:** [Primary → Secondary]
**Audience fit:** [Why this resonates with the target]
**Timeline:** [Quick win vs. long play]
**Pros:** [2-3 bullet points]
**Cons:** [1-2 bullet points]
**Best when:** [Conditions that make this the right choice]Ask the user to pick one, combine elements, or explore further.
Handling responses:
| User says | Action |
|---|---|
| Picks an approach | Move to Phase 3 with that approach |
| Wants to combine | Merge the relevant elements into a hybrid approach, confirm the blend, then move to Phase 3 |
| Rejects all approaches | Ask what felt wrong. Probe for the constraint or preference you missed. Generate 1-2 new approaches informed by their feedback |
| "I want to do all of them" | Recommend a sequence: "Start with [approach] because [reason]. If that works, layer in [approach 2] in week 3." Prioritize, don't parallelize |
| Wants to explore further | Ask one targeted follow-up question, then generate 1-2 additional approaches |
Phase 3: Capture Marketing Brief
Write a structured brief to marketing/brainstorms/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>-brainstorm.md:
---
type: marketing-brainstorm
date: YYYY-MM-DD
topic: [kebab-case topic]
goal: [awareness|leads|revenue|retention|launch]
chosen-approach: [N]
---
# Marketing Brief: [Topic]
## Context
[What we're marketing and why now]
## Chosen Approach
[Selected direction with rationale]
## Target Audience
[Who we're reaching]
## Channels
[Primary and secondary channels]
## Key Messages
[3-5 core messages]
## Constraints
[Budget, timeline, tools]
## Success Metrics
[How we'll measure impact]
## Structured Handoff
next-skill: [skill-name]
confidence: [high|medium|low]
context-summary: "[One line summary for /cmo routing]"The next-skill field is critical — it tells /cmo where to route after brainstorming.
Phase 4: Route Back to /cmo
After writing the brief:
"The brainstorm is complete. Brief saved to marketing/brainstorms/[filename]. Run /cmo to execute the next step (/[next-skill]), or invoke /<next-skill> directly."
Do not list all 50 skills. Recommend the ONE next skill based on the brief.
Worked Example
User request: 'I just built a verified meal delivery app, what should I do for marketing?'
Approach 1: Community-Led Growth Build presence in health-focused community spaces (neighborhood Slack groups, campus food subreddits, verified-source food Instagram). Create shareable content that spreads through existing trust networks. → next-skill: audience-research
Approach 2: SEO + Content Capture 'verified meal delivery' search traffic with city-specific landing pages. Write comparison content ('Is DoorDash organic?') to redirect competitor traffic. → next-skill: keyword-research
Recommended: Approach 1 — community trust is the moat for verification-driven products. SEO is Phase 2 after you have testimonials to feature.
Output Format
Follow the output formatting rules from /cmo [rules/output-format.md](../cmo/rules/output-format.md). Key requirements:
- Header with "MARKETING BRAINSTORM" and date
- Each approach as a clearly separated section
- FILES SAVED section showing the brief path
- WHAT'S NEXT section with the recommended next-skill
Anti-Patterns
| Anti-pattern | Instead | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Asking 5+ questions at once | One question at a time, multiple choice | Builders get overwhelmed by question walls. Each answer should shape the next question. |
| Jumping straight to tactics | Explore the strategic direction first | Tactics without strategy leads to scattered effort. "Post on TikTok" isn't a plan. |
| Proposing 5+ approaches | 2-3 focused options, not a menu | More options = more decision paralysis. The builder came here because they were stuck — don't make it worse. |
| Generic advice ("build an audience") | Specific to their product and context | Anyone can say "build an audience." The value is knowing WHICH audience, WHERE, with WHAT message. |
| Brainstorming when direction is clear | Skip to the execution skill | Brainstorming is exploration, not procrastination. If they know what they want, execute. |
| Leaving the user without a next step | Always include next-skill in the brief |
A brainstorm that doesn't lead to action is just a meeting. The handoff is the whole point. |
YAGNI Principles
- Resist adding channels you can't actually execute on
- One campaign well-executed beats three half-started
- If the user has no audience data, start with
audience-research, not guessing - Don't brainstorm pricing, launches, or SEO strategy — those have dedicated skills
- The brief is a compass, not a bible. It should fit on one page.