product-messaging — Stage 2 synthesis skill (PMM spine)

Reads the canonical positioning + ICP and produces the 10-component messaging library. The single source of truth for every downstream copy decision (landing pages, social, paid, outbound, lifecycle, sales enablement).

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When to use

• After positioning locks
• Quarterly refresh
• When positioning refreshes (messaging depends on positioning)
• When a value prop stops landing in customer conversations

When NOT to use

• For positioning strategy (use /positioning — messaging depends on positioning, not the reverse)
• For voice rules (use /tov-guidelines — voice is in marketing/brand/)
• For audience-specific copy variants (use /landing-page-copy or downstream content skills — they read this library and produce audience-tailored variants)

How it works

1. Inputs: none required (skill reads canonical files automatically)
2. Reads: marketing/positioning/positioning.md (anchor + differentiators + value props per priority), marketing/icp/ICP.md (champion persona + JTBD + pain priority order), marketing/competitors/aggregate.md (status quo alternatives synthesized), optionally marketing/brand/brand-voice.md (voice applied to messaging output)
3. Produces a 10-component messaging library (matches the PulseAnalytics example at marketing/messaging/messaging.md):
   1. Positioning statement (1 sentence, the anchor)
   2. Value propositions (in priority order — outcome-shaped, not feature-shaped)
   3. Key differentiators (what makes you different)
   4. Status-quo alternatives (what the buyer does today)
   5. Taglines (3-5 candidates + working tagline)
   6. CTA variants (primary / secondary / footer)
   7. Proof points (real data only; [UNAVAILABLE] for what isn't measured)
   8. Messaging hierarchy (by audience — champion / economic buyer / sales / end users)
   9. What we are NOT (anti-positioning)
   10. Headlines per channel (homepage / pricing / LinkedIn / cold email)
4. Marks the file status: locked once approved
5. Writes to marketing/messaging/messaging.md (overwrites prior canonical; git history preserves prior versions)

Invoke

/product-messaging

Or focused:

/product-messaging refresh — value prop 1 stopped landing, regenerate

Example output

See marketing/messaging/messaging.md for the PulseAnalytics seed. Notice the value props are outcome-shaped ("stop owning the pipeline-review prep") not feature-shaped ("multi-touch attribution"). The headlines-per-channel section gives downstream skills ready-to-use copy per surface.

Dependencies

• Reads from: marketing/positioning/positioning.md (required, must be locked); marketing/icp/ICP.md (required); marketing/competitors/aggregate.md (recommended); marketing/brand/brand-voice.md (optional)
• Writes to: marketing/messaging/messaging.md (canonical)
• Downstream readers: /landing-page-copy, /linkedin-content, /outreach-emails, /ad-creative-brief, /lifecycle-marketing, /sales-enablement, every content / paid / outbound / lifecycle execution skill

Customization

The 10-component default tracks the Genesys ontology (.claude/rules/ontology.md § messaging). Add a component (e.g., "Objection handlers" if the team uses them frequently in sales conversations) by appending to the list.

Value-prop priority order is the most important customization — the order you place value props here is the order downstream content skills will lead with. If pain priority shifts in ICP refreshes, re-prioritize value props.

Where this fits in the Example 1 chain

Week 1: /competitor-aggregate + /icp-research → canonical context
Week 2: /positioning → positioning canonical
Week 2: /product-messaging (THIS SKILL) → messaging canonical
Week 3+: every execution skill reads messaging.md

Refresh cadence

Quarterly, after positioning refreshes. Trigger sooner if value props stop landing in customer conversations.