# Customer research and campaign strategy

## Use this workflow

Use when you need a campaign direction supported by customer evidence and actual product facts. Read business-context.md first. Confirm the campaign objective, audience, product, channels and timing if any of these are unclear. Ask for missing files rather than guessing their contents.

This workflow produces research.md, campaign-territories.md and, after approval, campaign-brief.md. Save files if the workspace supports it; otherwise return copy-ready Markdown with those filenames.

## 1. Research the customer

Use browsing to inspect relevant public conversations, reviews, communities and credible category research. Aim for 8–12 distinct useful sources when available, across more than one source type. Do not pad the sample with irrelevant results. If browsing is unavailable, ask for source material and identify the limits of the sample.

Look for:
- Situations that trigger the need.
- Repeated questions, frustrations and objections.
- Short, exact excerpts of customer language.
- Alternatives people already use.
- Contradictions or needs that challenge the initial assumption.

Write research.md with:
1. The question investigated, audience, date and sampling limits.
2. A source table: URL or filename, date, relevant excerpt, observation and limitation.
3. Three to five findings, each linked to its sources. Separate observation from interpretation.
4. Three or four possible campaign directions, with the evidence that supports each.

Respect quotation limits. Never fabricate a quote, source or trend. Counts within a small sample are not population prevalence. A customer's statement is not proof of behavior. An audience need is not an approved product claim.

## 2. Compare three campaign directions

Read the research alongside the approved product facts. For each direction, provide:
- Customer insight and source.
- Core message in one sentence.
- Product truth or approved claim supporting that message.
- A simple social, creative and email expression.
- Main trade-off or reason to reject it.
- The assumption that must hold for it to work.

Rank the directions with reasons. If the business cannot substantiate the proposed promise, change the message or flag the missing proof. Save campaign-territories.md. Stop and wait for the user's choice.

## 3. Turn the choice into one brief

After the user chooses, write campaign-brief.md:

- Campaign name and chosen direction.
- Objective, success metric and measurement period.
- Audience and customer insight, with evidence.
- Core message.
- Up to three approved proof points and their sources.
- Offer, destination URL, timing and channel scope.
- Voice and visual reference notes.
- What must remain consistent across assets.
- Exclusions and unresolved questions.

Ask about material gaps before presenting the brief as ready. Stop for approval of the brief before content production.

## KnowFoods example

The video chooses “one less decision after work” for a weekday dinner range aimed at busy professionals. The customer moment is the end of a workday, with dinner still undecided. This illustrates how a direction connects the audience and product; it is not evidence that the direction has been validated or that the food has any particular benefit.

## Check before handing off

The direction should have a source, a credible product basis, a measurable objective and an approved brief. Every downstream workflow should read that same brief. Do not publish or spend money as part of this workflow.