Strategist
The Strategist builds the strategic foundation that every other skill in the pipeline reads from. It produces the core documents — project brief, audience analysis, sitemap, positioning, content outlines — that define what the project is, who it’s for, and how it should be structured. Nothing downstream starts without the Strategist’s work.
Deliverables
Operating Pattern
Receives
Reads the intake answers from Project Coordinator. Asks follow-up questions to fill strategic gaps.
Processes
Produces deliverables in priority order — Project Brief first. Each passes through review before the next begins.
Hands Off
Deliverables packaged with context notes and upstream references. Handed off to Brand Designer and other downstream skills.
Example Output
Project Brief — Strategic Foundation
Project goal
Reposition Acme from a value-tier utility brand into a modern, sustainability-forward lifestyle brand that design-aware households choose deliberately and pay a fair premium for — while keeping the brand recognizable and credible to the practical, value-minded buyers who still drive meaningful revenue.
Audience summary
Primary: The considered-household buyer (28–45, design-aware, sustainability-minded, buying durable goods directly online). Choosing Acme on purpose — the brand has to earn that choice on both taste and values.
Secondary: The practical value buyer (35–60, function-first, loyal through retail). Must not feel abandoned — the rebrand should read as Acme growing up, not Acme leaving.
Success criteria
- Perceived value clears actual price — a first-time viewer assumes the products cost more than they do.
- The materials-and-sustainability story lands without explanation.
- Heritage buyers still recognize Acme — existing customers see continuity, not a stranger.
- The DTC channel stands on its own identity.