The complete pre-strategy workbook — sixteen frameworks agencies run before a single campaign is briefed. Fill in each field directly on this page, or print a blank copy for the team.
Frame the category before you frame the brand. Establish where the industry sits in its lifecycle and what forces shape it from the outside in.
"If a stranger had never heard of this category, how would you explain it in three sentences?"
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Industry / category | |
| Sub-sector / niche | |
| Lifecycle stage | |
| Key players & scale | |
| Regulatory environment | |
| Primary growth drivers |
PESTLE scan — rate how much each force currently affects this market.
| Force | Observation | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Political | ||
| Economic | ||
| Social | ||
| Technological | ||
| Legal | ||
| Environmental |
Click a dot row to mark impact manually when exporting to print — 1 dot = negligible, 5 dots = category-defining.
Quantify the opportunity in three widening circles — total demand, the slice you can realistically reach, and the slice you can realistically win.
| Metric | Value | Growth rate | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current market value | |||
| 5-year projection | |||
| Regional breakdown |
Separate the trends worth building a strategy around from the noise. Log what's moving, why, and how long it will matter.
| Trend | What's driving it | Impact | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|---|
The friction people are already trying to solve — with a workaround, a competitor, or by simply tolerating it.
"What is the customer doing today because a better option doesn't exist yet?"
| Pain point | Frequency | Severity | Current workaround |
|---|---|---|---|
Beyond the problem — what the customer is actually reaching for. The identity, status, or feeling behind the purchase.
| Desire / aspiration | Underlying motivation | Emotional driver |
|---|---|---|
How the decision actually gets made — who's involved, what's compared, and what finally tips it.
| Stage | Typical behavior | Decision influencers | Channels used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trigger | |||
| Research | |||
| Purchase | |||
| Repeat |
Map touchpoints and emotional state across the full arc, from first exposure to advocacy.
Map who else is fighting for the same attention and budget, and where each one is genuinely strong or exposed.
| Competitor | Positioning | Strengths | Weaknesses | Est. share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Positioning map — plot competitors by price and differentiation. Edit the axis labels and click-drag isn't live here; use it as a print-and-plot canvas.
Understand what the market has already taught customers to expect to pay, and for what.
| Competitor / tier | Price point | Model | Value included |
|---|---|---|---|
Internal factors on top, external on the bottom. Be specific — vague strengths don't inform strategy.
Turn the "O" in SWOT into ranked, actionable bets — sized by impact against effort to capture.
| Opportunity | Why it matters | Potential impact | Effort |
|---|---|---|---|
Name what could go wrong before it does, and attach an actual mitigation — not just an observation.
| Threat | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation plan |
|---|---|---|---|
Where demand exists but no one is serving it well. This is usually where the sharpest strategy lives.
| Gap identified | Underserved segment | Why it's unmet | Opportunity size |
|---|---|---|---|
Log every source as you go — reliability matters as much as the data point itself.
| Source | Type | Date | Key data point | Reliability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Primary = interviews, surveys, first-party data. Secondary = published reports, industry press, competitor material.
The findings above are data. This is what they mean. Write five insights that a strategist could act on tomorrow.
Convert insight into ownership. Every finding above should trace to at least one line here.
| Action item | Owner | Priority | Timeline | Success metric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
First 90 days, broken down.