brand-guidelines

Brand Guidelines Skill

When to activate

• Creating brand guidelines for a new company or product
• Documenting your brand for new team members, contractors, or agencies
• Auditing brand consistency across channels
• Defining rules for AI-generated content to stay on-brand
• Updating brand guidelines after a rebrand

When NOT to use

• Visual design execution (logo creation, colour palettes) — needs a designer
• Brand strategy from scratch with no existing direction — needs discovery work first
• Legal trademark work — consult an IP lawyer

Instructions

Brand voice and tone

Define brand voice and tone for [company/product].

Company context:
- What we do: [describe]
- Who we serve: [target audience]
- Our personality: [3-5 adjectives — e.g. "direct, warm, expert, no-nonsense"]
- What we're NOT: [3-5 opposites — e.g. "not corporate, not jargon-heavy"]

Define:
1. Voice (consistent always): [3-4 core voice attributes with descriptions]
2. Tone (changes by context): how tone shifts for these scenarios:
   - Product announcements
   - Customer support / error messages
   - Marketing copy
   - Technical documentation
   - Social media
   - Crisis communication

Include: 2-3 before/after examples for each tone context.

Messaging hierarchy

Build the messaging hierarchy for [company/product].

Core information:
- What problem do we solve? [describe]
- Who is the primary customer? [ICP]
- How do we solve it differently than alternatives? [differentiation]
- What's the outcome customers get? [end benefit]

Messaging levels:
1. ONE-LINER: 8-12 words. Used in bios, ads, conversation. "We [verb] [outcome] for [who]."
2. ELEVATOR PITCH: 2-3 sentences. Used in intro calls, website hero, email intros.
3. PARAGRAPH: 5-6 sentences. Used in About pages, proposals, press kits.
4. FULL NARRATIVE: The longer brand story (when, why, who, and what's at stake).

Also define:
- Value proposition (what we offer)
- Mission (why we exist)
- Vision (world we're working toward)
- Tagline options (3 variants for testing)

Writing style rules

Define writing style rules for [company].

Create a practical style guide covering:

VOCABULARY
- Words we own (use consistently): [e.g. "build" not "create", "ship" not "launch"]
- Words we avoid: [jargon, buzzwords, overused phrases]
- Capitalisation rules: [product name caps, feature name caps]
- Numbers: [spell out under 10 / use numerals]

FORMATTING
- Sentence length: [short and punchy / longer and thoughtful]
- Paragraph length: [max X lines per paragraph]
- Oxford comma: [yes / no]
- Contractions: [use them / avoid in formal contexts]
- Em dashes / ellipses: [style preference]

CONTENT PRINCIPLES
- Active vs. passive voice: [always active / exceptions]
- How we talk about competitors: [rules]
- How we talk about customers: [do we use "users" or "customers" or "people"?]
- How we describe pricing: [rules]

Output: a 1-page quick reference card writers can use.

Brand do's and don'ts

Create a brand do's and don'ts list for [channel/use case].

Context: [social media / advertising / press releases / support / onboarding]

For each rule, include:
- The rule (clear, actionable)
- Why it matters (1 sentence)
- Example of doing it right
- Example of doing it wrong

Cover:
1. Tone and language (5 rules)
2. Visual identity (5 rules) — even if just describing intent
3. Claims and proof (3 rules) — what we can and can't say
4. Competitor mentions (2 rules)
5. Customer stories (2 rules — consent, accuracy)

AI content brand guidelines

Write brand guidelines for AI-generated content.

As we use Claude/ChatGPT to create content, what rules must be followed?

Define:
1. What AI CAN write without review: [e.g. social captions, email subject lines, first drafts]
2. What AI MUST NOT write without human review: [e.g. anything with claims, legal language, crisis comms]
3. How to check AI output for brand voice before publishing: [3-step checklist]
4. Red-flag phrases AI tends to use that don't match our brand: [list based on our voice]
5. How to prompt AI to write in our voice: [the system prompt or key instructions]

Example

User: Write brand voice guidelines for a developer tools startup. We want to be seen as expert peers, not marketers.

Claude's output:

Voice: Expert Peer

Attribute	What it means	Example
Direct	Say what you mean. No throat-clearing.	"This cuts your CI time in half." not "We're excited to share..."
Technical	Don't dumb it down. Trust the reader.	Use correct technical terms; don't explain basics
Human	We're engineers too.	"We got frustrated with X, so we built Y."
Precise	Specific claims, not vague promises	"P50 under 50ms" not "blazing fast"

What we never say: leverage, synergy, game-changing, seamless, best-in-class, innovative, cutting-edge, world-class, excited to announce, thrilled to share.

Tone shifts by context:

• Documentation: clinical, precise, no personality — just clarity
• Twitter/X: shorter, spikier, opinions welcome
• Error messages: empathetic + specific (tell them exactly what broke and how to fix it)
• Marketing: peer + proof (show data, not adjectives)

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Work with us: Claudient is backed by Uitbreiden — we build AI products and B2B solutions with developer communities. uitbreiden.com · Reddit · YouTube