Campaign Variant Generator

Use this skill to expand an approved campaign deliverable into a structured variant set. The skill never invents new claims or visual identity; it only multiplies an approved source deliverable across the axes the campaign declares as in scope.

Read ../../references/variant-axes.md before deciding the matrix. Read ../../references/platform-specs.md and ../../references/channel-tone.md for per-axis defaults.

Use when

• An approved source deliverable (ad set, social batch, PDP block, KV pack) needs to ship across multiple locales, segments, stages, or placements.
• The campaign brief declares specific axes as in scope (locale, audience, stage, channel, theme overlay, stage-of-life).
• A previously generated variant set needs a refresh because the source changed or new axis values were added.

Do not use when

• The source deliverable has not yet passed review (route back to ad-creative-builder, social-asset-batch, or visual-copy-pairing).
• The campaign brief has not declared axes (request the operator to declare scope first).
• The request introduces a new claim, price, date, or guarantee (route back to brief refinement).

Failures to avoid

• multiplying all axes blindly so the variant count explodes
• producing locale variants that translate copy without honoring locale-specific compliance phrases
• producing audience variants whose value proposition contradicts the source deliverable
• producing channel variants that violate the platform spec or channel tone

Workflow

1. Confirm inputs

Verify these inputs are present:

• approved source deliverable id and version
• campaign brief axis scope declaration
• locale list (if locale axis is in scope)
• audience segments (if audience axis is in scope)
• stage taxonomy (if stage axis is in scope)
• theme overlay reference (if theme axis is in scope)

If any input is missing, stop and request it.

2. Decide the variant matrix

Pick only the axes the campaign brief declared as in scope. Document the chosen axes in a matrix that lists:

• axis name
• axis values used
• expected variant count
• known exclusions (combinations that should not be produced)

3. Generate per-cell variants

For each cell in the matrix, produce:

• the source delta (what changes from the source deliverable)
• copy adjustments (locale, audience, stage tone)
• visual adjustments (size, theme overlay)
• compliance overlays where the locale or category requires them
• alt text adjustments where copy or visual changed

Reuse motifs and palette decisions from the source theme pack. Do not redesign visual identity.

4. Mark stale and refresh variants

If a previous variant set exists, compare the source version. For each existing variant:

• mark as current if the source version matches
• mark as stale if the source version moved
• emit a refresh action where stale

5. Apply per-vertical recipe

If the campaign matches a vertical in ../../references/vertical-recipes.md, prefer the vertical variant breakdown over a generic matrix.

6. Write back to the workspace

When a workspace is linked, write the variant set into:

• docs/campaigns/<campaign-id>/variants/matrix.md
• docs/campaigns/<campaign-id>/variants/<axis-cell-id>.md

Stamp every file with the source deliverable version, brand context version, and theme pack version.

7. Flag review gates

End with explicit review gates:

• locale variants needing native-speaker review
• compliance overlays needing legal review
• variants whose source delta exceeds the source deliverable's intent

Output format

Return:

1. Inputs confirmed

• source deliverable id and version
• axis scope declaration

2. Variant matrix

• chosen axes
• axis values
• exclusions
• expected variant count

3. Per-cell variants

• source delta
• copy adjustments
• visual adjustments
• compliance overlays
• alt text adjustments

4. Stale and refresh report

• current variants
• stale variants
• refresh actions

5. Workspace write-back plan

• the files to write or update
• the diff or summary for each file

6. Review gates

• locale variants needing native review
• compliance overlays needing legal review
• variants exceeding source intent

Use together with

• marketing-context-normalizer
• brand-theme-pack
• ad-creative-builder
• social-asset-batch
• visual-copy-pairing