Storytelling

Architect narrative-driven B2B campaigns that create emotional resonance, sustained engagement, and pipeline through systematic story development across anchor, derivative, and distribution layers.

Doctrine inherited (Step 7 — 0626 rollout)

Output complies with:

• output-tenets.md — the seven tenets (Storytelling/SQCA is Tenet 7)
• output-simplicity.md — length caps, three-layer source placement, robot-tells ban
• marketing-psychology.md — JTBD framing
• Step 6 calibration: see [[feedback_execution_doctrine_refinements_step6]]

Refinements applied to this skill:

Code	Refinement	How it lands in storytelling
R1	Source placement (three layers)	Narrative frameworks ship as client-team review surfaces. Cleaned [VERIFIED:...] tags in a collapsed appendix. No tags in the narrative body. Source dataset (ICP research, win-loss themes, customer quotes that anchor the metaphor) lives in working doc only.
R3	Product-update tone	Anchor narratives frame as "[Customer] ships X" not "we are thrilled to launch the [grand metaphor]." Even keynote-level brand campaigns stay even-keeled. The story carries the weight, not the adjectives.
R5	Blog as voice anchor	When the storytelling campaign has an anchor blog or whitepaper, the blog's opening line becomes the canonical voice anchor across every derivative asset. Cross-channel voice consistency is what makes the campaign read as one story.
R9	Action-oriented section names	"Set the situation / Name the tension / Land the resolution / Stage the next chapter" — verb-led narrative beats, not status-led ("Background / Problem / Solution / Conclusion").

When to run

Invoke when the user asks for: storytelling/narrative/brand campaign, story arc for [product/launch], hero's journey campaign, brand narrative, campaign metaphor, content campaign, thought leadership campaign, anchor content campaign, multi-week campaign, keynote/executive narrative, customer transformation story.

Do NOT invoke for: single blog post (use aeo-content), landing page copy (use landing-page-copy), email sequences without narrative arc (use email-nurture), social posts without campaign strategy (use linkedin-content).

Inputs

Required:

Input	Description	Source
Product/messaging context	3+ capabilities, 3+ differentiators	messaging skill output
ICP research	Champion persona with pain points	icp-behavioural output
TOV guidelines	Voice attributes defined	tov-guidelines or client docs

Optional (improves quality): competitor research (narrative gap), campaign objectives (focus arc), timeline constraints (calendar calibration), budget context (asset scope).

Validation gate: if any required input missing, ask user to provide or offer to run upstream skill first.

Client context: if working on a client project, the client CLAUDE.md is auto-loaded — apply Voice & Messaging rules automatically; don't re-ask.

Steps

Phase 1 — Insight mining

1. Extract narrative tension. Use the four-question framework in the premium reference (status quo, urgency, why current fails, transformation promise) → Output: narrative tension framework.
2. Map emotional payload. Pain point → underlying emotion → story beat (table in the premium reference) → Output: emotional journey map.
3. Identify competitive narrative gaps. Competitor / their story / what they miss / your angle → Output: competitive narrative positioning.
4. Compile narrative foundation brief. Use template in the premium reference → Output: brief covering core tension, emotional journey, transformation promise, competitive angle, voice alignment.

Checkpoint: narrative tension identified, emotional journey mapped, competitive angle defined, foundation brief complete.

Phase 2 — Narrative development

5. Select story arc. Match campaign goal → arc → duration using table in the premium reference (6 primary literary arcs + 4 B2B-specific). Document rationale.
6. Map arc stages to content beats. For Hero's Journey use the 12-stage table in the premium reference. For other arcs, build equivalent stage→beat→focus mapping.
7. Create before/after archetypes. Use template in the premium reference (visual metaphor, behaviors, tools, frustrations/feelings, beliefs, outcome). Names must be evocative nouns.
8. Build metaphor system. Select pop culture references for target demographic, map to story beats. Validate per the premium reference selection rule (age/role/geography fit).
9. Define narrative altitude (executive audiences only). Use 4-altitude table in the premium reference (30k/15k/5k/ground). Produce altitude-specific narrative versions for multi-stakeholder buying committees.

Checkpoint: arc selected and mapped, archetypes documented, metaphors validated, altitude defined if applicable.

Phase 3 — Content orchestration

10. Build campaign timeline. Use the premium reference 6-week Hero's Journey template (or proportional version for other arcs). Map weekly anchor + support assets.
11. Generate anchor content briefs. Use brief template in the premium reference (title, thesis, story beat, key messages, proof points, CTA) — one per anchor.
12. Generate derivative content briefs. Social posts, email sequences, memes — formats per the premium reference.
13. Define distribution plan. Channel × content type × frequency × goal matrix per the premium reference.
14. Define pipeline metrics. Awareness → engagement → conversion → pipeline. Targets from client inputs only or marked "Suggested: X" — never invent.

Checkpoint: timeline complete, all briefs generated, distribution and metrics defined.

Self-evaluation + review gate

15. Run self-evaluation and quality checks per the premium reference (anti-hallucination guardrails, narrative/content/completeness checklists). Mark unconfirmed details with [PLACEHOLDER: description]. Present full campaign at Gate 2 (standard review) — actions: approve, adjust arc, expand scope.

What good looks like

Examples:

• examples/octave-prompt-swamp-campaign.md — Hero's Journey full campaign for Octave (prompt swamp narrative)

Evaluations (golden output traits):

• Transformation stated as archetype shift (not generic outcome)
• Emotional journey specific, not generic
• Competitive angle positions against category or status quo, not against named competitor
• Tension is quantified (e.g., "60% of time")
• Archetype names are evocative nouns; visual metaphors are concrete and visible
• Behaviors observable, beliefs in first-person quotes, outcome concrete
• Metaphors verified against demographic
• All metrics either client-sourced or marked "Suggested:"

Final ship gate

Run /premortem --output before ship. See /premortem skill for the 5 execution domains (will-it-resonate / will-it-convert / will-it-stay-on-brand / will-stakeholder-push-back / will-it-degrade-over-time) and output template.

Trivial-case escape: ## Premortem\nNo failure modes — trivial change satisfies the contract for genuinely trivial outputs.

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Persuasion & stickiness pass

Output complies with persuasion-and-stickiness.md — Cialdini's 7 persuasion levers + Heath's SUCCESs. Deploy the 1-2 Cialdini levers that fit the reader's barrier (never all seven; every lever must be TRUE), run the SUCCESs diagnostic (Simple / Unexpected / Concrete / Credible / Emotional / Stories) over the near-final draft, then the rule's pre-ship gate.