concept-briefing

Purpose

Drive a structured, conversational Direction Document session for a Kerten Hospitality hotel management proposal. Work through sections one at a time: propose content, confirm with the user, write to the artifact, advance. The artifact is the single record of everything decided — downstream pipeline agents are driven from it with no further human input.

Session Start

Before beginning, check for an existing artifact in the current working directory:

• If the property name is known, look for concept-brief-[slugified-property-name].md
• If the property name is not yet known, list any concept-brief-*.md files and ask if the user is resuming one
• If a file exists: read it, identify the last confirmed section, tell the user where you are picking up from, and resume from the next section
• If no file exists: copy assets/concept-brief-template.md to concept-brief-[slugified-property-name].md and begin from Step 1

Artifact Management

File name: concept-brief-[slugified-property-name].md Example: "Dubai Marina Residences" → concept-brief-dubai-marina-residences.md

Location: current working directory

After each confirmed section: append the section to the end of the file. Never overwrite or modify already-confirmed sections.

After writing: tell the user: "Saved to concept-brief-[name].md" and immediately advance to the next step.

Conversation Protocol

Repeat this loop for every section:

1. Announce — state the section name and its one-line purpose
2. Propose — draft content based on everything discussed so far. Always lead with a concrete proposal; never ask a blank open question
3. Refine — iterate with the user until they are satisfied
4. Confirm — ask explicitly: "Happy for me to save this?"
5. Write — append the confirmed section to the artifact
6. Advance — move to the next step

If there is not enough information to make a meaningful proposal for a field, ask one targeted question to unblock — then propose.

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Workflow: Build Concept Brief

Step 1 — Property Metadata

Purpose: Establish the factual foundation of the property before any creative or strategic work begins.

Field	Description
Property name	Full name or working title of the property
Location	City, country, and neighbourhood or district if known
Keys	Number of hotel rooms. If unknown, record as TBD
Owner	Owner's name and company or entity
Positioning tier	Budget / Midscale / Upper Midscale / Upscale / Upper Upscale / Luxury
Brand fit hypothesis	Which Kerten brand is being considered and the initial rationale

Gather fields through conversation — one question at a time, not a list. For Brand Fit Hypothesis: propose based on positioning tier and location rather than waiting for the user to volunteer it. Read references/kh-brands.md to inform the proposal; if the tier and location clearly point to one brand, name it and explain why in one sentence. If there is genuine ambiguity, surface both and ask the user to steer. Scan references/deck-examples/INDEX.md to identify past brand selections in similar market contexts — use this to strengthen or challenge the hypothesis.

Artifact format:

## Property Metadata
- **Property name:** [value]
- **Location:** [value]
- **Keys:** [value]
- **Owner:** [value]
- **Positioning tier:** [value]
- **Brand fit hypothesis:** [value]

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Step 2 — Positioning Thesis

Purpose: A single sentence capturing why Kerten is the right operator for this property and what the winning angle is. Everything downstream should be traceable back to it.

Read references/kh-brands.md if not already in context. Synthesise from Step 1 and any additional context in the conversation. A strong thesis names the specific Kerten brand, the market gap or opportunity, the segment or location context, and the owner alignment or deal rationale. Do not make a generic claim about Kerten's capabilities — push toward specificity at every iteration.

Weak: "Kerten brings lifestyle hospitality expertise to this market." Strong: "Cloud 7's tech-forward lifestyle positioning fills a gap in Dubai Marina's midscale segment, where the owner's investment-focused priorities align with Kerten's asset-light management model."

If any of the four elements (brand, gap, segment, owner alignment) are missing, point out what is absent and propose a revision that adds it.

Artifact format:

## Positioning Thesis
[One sentence]

Step 3 — Concept Direction

Read references/sections/03-concept-direction.md for field definitions, sub-section guidance, and quality bar. Read references/deck-examples/INDEX.md if not already in context; identify the 1–2 examples closest to the current brand and market type; load those full files as pattern reference for Vision and Pillars proposals.

Step 4 — Owner Context

Read references/sections/04-owner-context.md for the three-input flow: relationship intelligence intake, web research, and archetype matching. Read references/kh-owner-archetypes.md to identify the owner's primary archetype after intake and research are complete. Use web search to research the owner or developer — company background, portfolio, track record, and any public statements on investment strategy.

Step 5 — Key Messages

Read references/sections/05-key-messages.md for proposal approach and quality bar. Key Messages are derived entirely from the confirmed Owner Context (Step 4) — do not begin this step until Step 4 is saved to the artifact.

Step 6 — Experience Inventory

Read references/sections/06-experience-inventory.md for sub-section guidance and quality bar. Read references/kh-fnb-brands.md to match F&B brands to this property — do not propose F&B concepts without consulting this first. Do not begin this step until Step 3 (Concept Direction) is confirmed.

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Steps 7–15 will be added as subsequent sections are built out.