Phase 3: Verbal Identity

Purpose

The Verbal Identity phase brings the brand personality to life in words. It creates the voice, tone, messaging framework, and language guidelines that ensure consistent communication.

Usage

/branding:verbal <brand-name>

Example:

/branding:verbal acme

Prerequisites

Requires .metapowers/branding/<brand>/02-strategy.md from the Strategy phase. Use --skip-checks to bypass.

What It Does

1. Defines brand voice based on personality traits ("We are / We are not")
2. Creates tone variations for different contexts (marketing, support, social, formal)
3. Develops 3-5 messaging pillars with proof points
4. Generates tagline candidates and recommends the strongest
5. Establishes language guidelines (preferred vocabulary, words to avoid, style)
6. Writes the verbal identity to .metapowers/branding/<brand>/03-verbal.md

Output

Creates .metapowers/branding/<brand>/03-verbal.md containing:

• Voice description and examples
• Tone variations by context
• Messaging pillars with headlines and proof points
• Tagline recommendation
• Language do's and don'ts

Next Phase

After Verbal, proceed to Visual to define the visual identity system.