# Claude for Branding > Brand is a system. Talk to Claude like one. Positioning, identity, voice, naming, and brand worlds in language Claude can act on. From discovery prompts to system definitions that hold up under iteration. Source: https://www.juanmnl.com/notes/claude-for-branding.html ## Frame the Ask Branding work is only as good as the inputs. State these before asking Claude for names, copy, or directions. ### Audience Who you're for, and who you're not for. A brand that's for everyone resonates with no one. Prompt: Audience: indie founders, design-literate, allergic to corporate fluff. ### Category & competitors The space you play in and who else is there. Sets the conventions to follow or break. Prompt: Category: project management. Competitors feel cold and enterprise. ### Stage New brand, rebrand, or extension. Each needs different inputs and freedom. Prompt: This is a full rebrand, the name stays, everything else is open. ### What you stand for The belief or point of view behind the business. The root of everything downstream. Prompt: We believe software should feel calm, not addictive. ### Deliverable Be explicit: names, tagline options, a positioning statement, a voice guide, a brand brief. Prompt: Give me a one-page positioning statement, then 10 tagline options. ### Vague → precise ## Brand Strategy The thinking layer, before a single color or font. Name these and Claude builds on a foundation, not a mood. ### Positioning The space you own in the customer's mind, relative to alternatives. The strategic core. Prompt: Write a positioning statement: for [who], we're the [what] that [why]. ### Value proposition The concrete benefit you promise, in the customer's terms, not your features. Prompt: Draft a value prop focused on the outcome, not the feature list. ### Mission & vision Mission = why you exist now; vision = the future you're working toward. Prompt: Write a mission and a vision, one present, one aspirational. ### Brand pillars 3,5 core attributes everything ladders up to. The brand's load-bearing walls. Prompt: Propose 4 brand pillars with a sentence each. ### Brand archetype A personality pattern (Sage, Rebel, Creator, Caregiver…) that gives the brand a consistent character. Prompt: Which archetype fits us, and how would it shape our voice? ### Differentiation The reason to choose you over the obvious alternative. Sharp, defensible, true. Prompt: What's our real differentiation vs the category leader? ### Brand promise The one thing customers can always count on you for. Prompt: Distill our brand promise into a single sentence. ### Target audience / persona A vivid portrait of who you serve, needs, frustrations, language. Prompt: Build a primary persona with goals, frustrations, and their own words. ## Verbal Identity How the brand sounds and what it says. Words do as much branding as visuals, often more. ### Naming The brand or product name. Specify the style: descriptive, abstract, coined, evocative, plus must-avoids. Prompt: Generate 15 names: short, evocative, .com-able, not animal-themed. ### Tagline / slogan A short, memorable line capturing the promise. Tagline = enduring; slogan = campaign. Prompt: 10 tagline options, under 5 words, no jargon. ### Messaging hierarchy Primary message, supporting points, proof. So everyone says the same things in priority order. Prompt: Build a messaging hierarchy: headline → 3 supports → proof points. ### Boilerplate The standard "about us" paragraph reused in press, footers, and bios. Prompt: Write a 50-word boilerplate and a 25-word short version. ### Elevator pitch What you do, for whom, why it matters, in one breath. Prompt: Write a one-sentence and a 30-second pitch. ### Naming architecture How product/feature names relate to the master brand (branded house vs house of brands). Prompt: Recommend a naming architecture for our growing product line. ## Visual Identity The look. Name the parts precisely and Claude can brief, critique, or generate each one. ### Logo / wordmark / lockup Logo = the mark; wordmark = name set as type; lockup = the fixed arrangement of mark + name. Prompt: Brief a wordmark + a standalone symbol that work apart and together. ### Color palette Primary, secondary, and accent colors with intended roles and a meaning. Prompt: Propose a palette: one primary, two neutrals, one accent, warm, calm. ### Type system A display/heading face plus a body face, with a scale and pairing rationale. Prompt: Recommend a type pairing (display + body) and explain the contrast. ### Imagery / art direction The visual world: photography style, illustration, texture, mood. Prompt: Define an art direction: photography style, lighting, subject, mood. ### Iconography & motifs A consistent icon style and recurring graphic devices that signal the brand. Prompt: Describe an icon style and one recurring brand motif. ### Moodboard direction A described visual territory before any pixels, adjectives, references, anti-references. Prompt: Sketch 3 moodboard directions in words: name each and its feeling. ### Brand guidelines The rulebook: logo usage, spacing, color values, type, do's and don'ts. Prompt: Draft brand guidelines covering logo, color, type, and voice. ### Applications / collateral Where the brand lives: site, deck, social, packaging, email. Test the system on real surfaces. Prompt: Show the brand applied to a homepage hero and a social post. ## Voice & Tone Voice is constant; tone flexes by context. Give Claude adjectives and anti-adjectives, the contrast is what steers. ### Voice attributes 3,4 adjectives defining how the brand always sounds. Prompt: Our voice is warm, plain-spoken, confident, define each with an example. ### Anti-adjectives What you're explicitly NOT. Often clearer than what you are. Prompt: We're never hype-y, corporate, or cutesy. Steer away from those. ### Tone shifts How the voice adapts: error messages vs marketing vs onboarding. Prompt: Show the voice in an error message vs a launch announcement. ### Do / don't pairs Concrete before/after examples, the most useful part of any voice guide. Prompt: Give do/don't rewrites for 5 common phrases. ### Lexicon Words you use and words you ban. Keeps copy consistent across writers. Prompt: Build a word list: say "members" not "users"; avoid "leverage." ### Reading level & rhythm Sentence length, formality, and complexity that match the audience. Prompt: Keep it 8th-grade reading level, short sentences, active voice. ## Working Modes The verbs that direct Claude on brand work. ### Explore / generate Cast wide for names, taglines, or directions. Ask for distinct territories, not near-duplicates. Prompt: Generate 3 distinct brand territories: one bold, one calm, one quirky. ### Audit Evaluate existing brand assets for consistency, clarity, and differentiation. Prompt: Audit our current messaging, where does it sound like everyone else? ### Stress-test Pressure a name or claim: meanings, trademarks, other languages, how it ages. Prompt: Stress-test these 3 names, any bad connotations or conflicts? ### Translate strategy → expression Turn positioning into concrete copy, names, or visual direction. Prompt: Turn this positioning into a homepage headline and subhead. ### Document / systematize Capture decisions into reusable guidelines so the brand stays consistent. Prompt: Document this into a one-page brand brief the team can follow. ### Roleplay the audience Have Claude react as your target persona to gut-check a name or message. Prompt: React as our skeptical founder persona, does this land or grate?