Audit competitor brands to find differentiation opportunities
Analyzes competitor brands to identify visual and messaging differentiation opportunities.
/plugin marketplace add mike-coulbourn/claude-vibes/plugin install claude-vibes@claude-vibesOptional specific competitors to analyze00-BRAND/00-discover/You are helping a startup founder understand the competitive brand landscape. This audit focuses on BRAND positioning, not just product features — visual identity, messaging, voice, and positioning.
Founder Brief (required): @docs/00-BRAND/00-DISCOVERY/01-founder-brief.md
Audience Research (optional): @docs/00-BRAND/00-DISCOVERY/02-audience-research.md
Check above: If no founder brief content loaded, STOP and tell the user to run /00-BRAND:00-discover/01-discover-founder first.
Optional specific competitors: $ARGUMENTS
CRITICAL: ALWAYS use the AskUserQuestion tool for ANY question to the user. Never ask questions as plain text output. The AskUserQuestion tool ensures a guided, interactive experience with structured options. Every single user question must go through this tool.
CRITICAL: You MUST use the Task tool to launch the brand-competitive-auditor agent. Do not do the competitive audit yourself — that's what the specialized agent is for.
Your job is to:
ALWAYS use the AskUserQuestion tool when interacting with the user. This ensures a guided, interactive experience where the founder feels engaged and consulted throughout the branding process.
Use AskUserQuestion to:
Never save final outputs without user approval.
BEFORE launching the brand-competitive-auditor agent, you MUST:
Use the Skill tool to invoke claude-vibes:ai-writing-detection
Use the Sequential Thinking MCP tool (ultrathink) to prepare AI-aware instructions:
Include AI-aware instructions in the agent prompt so output is human-sounding from the start
Use Task tool with subagent_type: "claude-vibes:BRANDING:brand-competitive-auditor" and this prompt:
Conduct a comprehensive brand audit of competitors in this space. ultrathink
## STARTUP CONTEXT
**Business**: [Extract from founder brief — what they do]
**Problem Solved**: [Extract — the core problem]
**Target Customer**: [From audience research — who the customers are]
**What Customers Value**: [From audience research — key values, motivations, emotional jobs]
## CRITICAL: INTERACTIVE DISCOVERY
**ALWAYS use the AskUserQuestion tool to ensure an interactive, guided experience:**
- Gather preferences and opinions before making recommendations
- Present options with clear tradeoffs for the user to choose from
- Validate findings and get feedback before proceeding
- Confirm final outputs resonate before saving
Never make significant decisions without user input. The brand identity belongs to them.
## SPECIFIC COMPETITORS TO ANALYZE
[If user provided any, list them here. Otherwise:]
"Identify 5-10 direct and indirect competitors. Aim for at least 10 for accurate landscape mapping, prioritize top 5-10 for deep analysis."
## RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
### Phase 1: Competitor Discovery & Identification
- Direct competitors (same solution category)
- Indirect competitors (different approaches to same problem)
- Aspirational brands (successful brands in adjacent spaces to learn from)
### Phase 2: Individual Competitor Brand Profiles
For each competitor, document:
- Visual identity (logo style, colors with hex values, typography, imagery)
- Positioning (tagline, claims, differentiation angle)
- Voice and tone (sample language, personality traits)
- Only-ness Assessment (can they complete the Only-ness Statement?)
- Good/Different Chart position (1-10 scores with rationale)
### Phase 3: Visual Landscape Audit Matrices
Create structured matrices for:
- **Color Audit Matrix**: competitor, primary color + hex, secondary colors, mood
- **Typography Audit Matrix**: competitor, typeface, style (serif/sans), weights
- **Imagery Style Audit**: competitor, photo vs illustration, subjects, mood, quality
### Phase 4: Strategic Analysis
- **Perceptual Map** with two relevant axes (choose based on what matters to customers)
- **Visual white space identification**: unclaimed color territories, typography gaps, imagery opportunities
- **Voice differentiation opportunities**: what tones are overused vs. missing?
- **Archetype landscape mapping**: which archetypes dominate? which are available?
- **Good/Different Chart analysis**: plot all competitors, identify quadrant opportunities
### Phase 5: Differentiation Opportunities
Apply the **Zig vs Zag decision framework**:
- Zig factors (reasons to follow conventions)
- Zag factors (reasons to break conventions)
- Recommendation with rationale
Prioritize differentiation by impact: **Color → Typography → Imagery → Layout**
## TOOLS TO USE
- **Sequential Thinking MCP**: Structure analysis through each framework systematically
- **WebSearch**: Search extensively for:
- `"[competitor name] brand" OR "[competitor name] logo"`
- `"[competitor name] vs" OR "[competitor name] alternative"`
- `"[industry] brand design" site:dribbble.com OR site:behance.net`
- `"[competitor name] review" OR "[competitor name] experience"`
- `"[competitor name] about" OR "[competitor name] mission"`
- `"best [solution category]" OR "top [solution category]"`
- **WebFetch**: Read competitor About pages, Mission pages, Homepage copy deeply — extract positioning, voice, and visual identity details
- **AskUserQuestion**: Confirm competitor list with founder ("Anyone I'm missing?")
## OUTPUT REQUIREMENTS
Deliver the complete competitive brand audit using your structured output format. Must include:
1. **Executive Summary** with primary differentiation opportunity
2. **Individual Competitor Profiles** (5-10 competitors)
3. **Visual Audit Matrices** (Color, Typography, Imagery) with patterns and white space identified
4. **Perceptual Map** with axes, competitor positions, and white space
5. **Good/Different Chart** with quadrant analysis
6. **Prioritized Differentiation Recommendations** (Color first, then Typography, then Imagery)
7. **Only-ness Statement Opportunity** for this brand
8. **Zig vs Zag Recommendation** with rationale
Use the templates in the `competitive-visual-audit` skill for matrix formatting.
After the agent returns:
Ensure docs/00-BRAND/00-DISCOVERY/ directory exists
Save the competitive audit to docs/00-BRAND/00-DISCOVERY/03-competitive-audit.md
Next step: "Run /00-BRAND:00-discover/04-name-brand to explore and finalize your brand name."