Creative Brief

1. Purpose

fatigue-detector says which creative is dying. copy-rotation writes what the words say. This skill answers the step in between: "what should the next creative look like?" — the visual concept, format, and angle, mined from the account's own winners.

Run when:

• fatigue-detector or bleeders-winners flags a creative for pause — before copy-rotation generates copy.
• Launching a new ad set and you want 3–5 fresh concepts, not a re‑skin of the last winner.
• audience-health recommends refreshing an audience — new audience needs matching fresh angles.

2. Inputs

Pull before briefing:

• Top performers (last 90 days) — top 10 ads by spend‑weighted ROAS + top 5 by CTR.
• What's being replaced — the paused creative(s) from fatigue-detector/bleeders-winners, so the brief avoids repeating the fatigued angle.
• Funnel stage of the destination campaign (ToFu / MoFu / BoFu).
• Brand voice & forbidden vocabulary (provided by the platform's BrandKit).

3. Winning Angle Extraction

For each top performer, tag four axes:

| Axis                    | What to capture                                     | Examples                                                                                   |
| :---------------------- | :-------------------------------------------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Hook type**           | How the ad grabs attention                          | Question · Stat · Story · Testimonial · Problem statement · Command                        |
| **Visual format**       | Structural pattern                                  | Notes‑app · Tweet · Receipt · Chart · UGC selfie · Product shot · Text‑on‑photo · Before/after |
| **Mood**                | Emotional register                                  | Urgent · Organic · Professional · Casual · Flashy · Understated                            |
| **Angle / Horseman**    | Psychological lever (see [copy-rotation](copy-rotation.md)) | 💰 Money · ⏱ Time · 👑 Status · ⚠️ Fear                                                     |

Cluster winners by (format, angle) pairs. A pair that appears 3+ times in the top performers is a proven pattern — brief variants of it before experimenting with net‑new formats.

4. Brief Structure

Every concept produced is a one‑page brief with these fields:

| Field                    | Purpose                                                                    |
| :----------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Concept name**         | Short label (e.g. `Notes App — CFO Rant v4`)                               |
| **Replaces**             | ID of the paused creative (if applicable)                                  |
| **Funnel stage**         | ToFu / MoFu / BoFu                                                         |
| **Angle / Horseman**     | One of the four Horsemen                                                   |
| **Visual format**        | Specific, imitable pattern                                                 |
| **Mood**                 | Emotional register                                                         |
| **Key visual elements**  | 3–5 concrete things that must appear on screen                             |
| **On‑image text**        | Short on‑creative text (the primary ad copy comes from `copy-rotation`)    |
| **Reference winners**    | 1–3 real account top performers this concept draws from                    |
| **Avoid**                | Elements from the paused creative that likely drove fatigue                |
| **Success criteria**     | CTR and frequency targets taken from the referenced winners                |

5. Generation Rules

• Produce 3 concepts per brief — not 1 (risk) or 10 (dilutes test signal).
• Each concept hits a different Horseman — same rule as copy-rotation.
• At least one must imitate a proven pattern; at most one can be a net‑new format.
• Never repeat the exact format of the creative being replaced — that's the pattern the audience has gone blind to.
• Cite specific account winners — every concept references 1–3 real top performers. No generic "use a testimonial" briefs.

6. Operational Output: Creative Brief Pack

Creative Brief Pack — Summer Launch — Traffic · 3 concepts · Mon, Apr 22

Context: Replacing AD_238 (Notes App Hero) — paused by fatigue-detector at 34% CTR drop. Funnel: MoFu. Top account patterns: Notes‑app + Time (6 wins) · UGC‑Selfie + Status (4 wins) · Chart + Money (3 wins).

Concept 1 — CFO Rant v4 (imitates proven pattern)

• Horseman: ⏱ Time
• Visual format: Notes‑app screenshot, iPhone frame, handwritten‑style headline
• Mood: Organic, frustrated, relatable
• Key elements: 5 bullets of tasks · 3rd bullet crossed out · today's date in header · battery icon at 12%
• On‑image text: "Things my agency does that my CFO hates"
• Reference winners: AD_112 · AD_155 · AD_201 (same format, avg CTR 3.4%)
• Avoid: Red accent from AD_238; the verb "Stop" (audience is blind to it)
• Target: CTR ≥ 2.8% · freq < 2.0 at day 14

Concept 2 — Founder Testimonial — $40K (proven pattern, different Horseman)

• Horseman: 💰 Money
• Visual format: UGC selfie, shoulders‑up, kitchen background
• Mood: Casual, understated
• Key elements: Founder holding phone showing revenue dashboard · no filter · handheld feel
• On‑image text: "I hit $40K/mo using this"
• Reference winners: AD_388 (Founder UGC Hook — 2.9% CTR, 17 conv in 7d)
• Avoid: Polished lighting, corporate backdrop
• Target: CTR ≥ 2.5% · 10+ conversions in first 7 days

Concept 3 — Benchmark Chart (net‑new format — test as A/B probe)

• Horseman: 👑 Status
• Visual format: Horizontal bar chart, 3 bars, top 10% highlighted
• Mood: Professional, confident
• Key elements: "Top 10% of agencies" callout · red→green gradient · small logo bottom‑right
• On‑image text: "The top 10% of agencies report in minutes, not days."
• Reference winners: AD_412 (Chart + Money — 2.1% CTR) — adjacent pattern
• Avoid: > 5 data points (clutters on mobile)
• Target: CTR ≥ 2.0% · A/B probe at 20% of ad‑set budget for 7 days

Next step: pass each concept's Horseman + funnel stage into copy-rotation to generate 3 headlines + 3 bodies per concept.