/four-core-documents

name: four-core-documents
description: "Produce the Four Core Documents at strategic depth (61 total steps): Business & SBU Analysis, Segmentation Framework, Brand Positioning, DMFlow. Use when running Part 3 of the engagement methodology."
user-invocable: true
triggers:
  - produce the four core documents
  - run part 3 of the engagement
  - generate the strategic spine
  - business and SBU analysis
  - segmentation framework
  - brand positioning document
  - DMFlow document
  - re-run a core document as v2
allowed-tools: Read Write Edit Bash Glob Grep
engagement-part: "3"
view-preference: v2-primary

/digital-marketing-pro:four-core-documents — The Strategic Spine (61 Steps)

This skill produces Part 3 of the engagement methodology: the four documents that together define the brand at strategic depth. Every channel strategy, every creative brief, every piece of copy reads back to these.

Context efficiency

Heavy skill. **Grep before Read** any referenced file, then `Read` only matched ranges with `offset` + `limit`. List the brand's workspace at `~/.claude-marketing/brands/{slug}/` (or `$CLAUDE_PLUGIN_DATA/digital-marketing-pro/brands/{slug}/` when that env var is set) before opening files. On re-invocation mid-session, skip files already in context.

**Specification:** [four-core-documents-spec.md](../context-engine/four-core-documents-spec.md) — the exact 61 steps across the four documents.

**Engagement context:** [engagement-flow-methodology.md](../context-engine/engagement-flow-methodology.md) — where Part 3 fits in the 12-Part flow.

Pre-conditions

Before running this skill, verify:

1. **Brand profile exists** at `~/.claude-marketing/brands/{brand-slug}/profile.json`. If not, run `/digital-marketing-pro:brand-setup` first. 2. **Engagement is initialised** with state file `_engagement.json` present. If not, run `/digital-marketing-pro:engagement start` first. 3. **Part 1 (Client Inputs) is completed**. Stone facts and Opinion hypotheses must be captured before Part 3 can begin. 4. **Part 2 (External Research) is at least started**. Some Part 2 research may continue in parallel with Part 3, but the kickoff must have happened.

If any pre-condition fails, do NOT produce output. Instead, instruct the user on what to run first.

Subcommands

Produce all four documents

/digital-marketing-pro:four-core-documents <brand-slug> <engagement-id>

Produces 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 in sequence. Actual time varies with engagement complexity.

Produce a single document

/digital-marketing-pro:four-core-documents <brand-slug> <engagement-id> --doc 3.1

Produces just the specified document. Useful for re-runs (Part 6) or when one doc needs to be redone independently.

Produce v2 re-runs

/digital-marketing-pro:four-core-documents <brand-slug> <engagement-id> --view v2 --doc "3.1,3.3"

Produces v2 versions of the specified documents. `--doc` takes a single id (`3.1`) or a comma-separated list (`"3.1,3.3"`). Used during Part 6 after the Decision Matrix has triggered re-runs. (The canonical flags are `--doc`, `--view v2`, and `--combined` — there is no `--docs`.)

Produce the Combined Core Document (3.C)

/digital-marketing-pro:four-core-documents <brand-slug> <engagement-id> --combined

Stitches all four canonical core documents (latest version of each) into a single executive-reference file with master TOC, master assumptions table, and master source index. Produced only when an executive audience needs a single-file read.

Production Order

The four documents are produced in sequence because each builds on the prior:

1. **3.1 Business & SBU Analysis** (18 steps) — foundational. Establishes the business reality. 2. **3.2 Segmentation Framework** (15 steps) — depends on 3.1's SBU and customer data. 3. **3.3 Brand Positioning & Communications** (19 steps) — depends on 3.2's personas. 4. **3.4 DMFlow** (9 steps) — depends on 3.1, 3.2, and 3.3 to make channel decisions.

When running re-runs, only the affected documents are regenerated. Other documents remain at their current version.

Per-Document Production

3.1 — Business & SBU Analysis (18 steps)

Read the spec section for 3.1 in [four-core-documents-spec.md](../context-engine/four-core-documents-spec.md). The 18 steps are:

1. SBU identification 2. SBU separation rationale 3. Revenue streams per SBU 4. Unit economics per SBU 5. Value chain mapping 6. Offering portfolio at task-level granularity 7. Pricing architecture 8. Organisational and go-to-market model 9. Sales and distribution architecture 10. Full SWOT with evidence 11. Growth levers 12. Constraints 13. Customer acquisition economics 14. Customer retention economics 15. Partnership and channel dependencies 16. Risk profile 17. Strategic implications for the engagement 18. Open questions

**Inputs:**

• `part-01-client-inputs/stone-facts.json` — ground-truth facts
• `part-02-external-research/` — unbiased external research (industry data, market context)
• Brand profile at `~/.claude-marketing/brands/{slug}/profile.json`
• (Do NOT use Opinion hypotheses as ground truth — those are research questions, not facts)

**Output:**

`engagements/{id}/part-03-four-core-documents/v1/3.1-business-and-sbu-analysis.md`

(For v2 re-runs: same path but in `v2/` instead of `v1/`)

**Output structure:**

---
document: 3.1-business-and-sbu-analysis
version: v1.0
engagement: {engagement-id}
brand: {brand-slug}
produced: {iso-timestamp}
view: v1   # or v2 for re-runs
---

# 3.1 Business & SBU Analysis

## Step 1: SBU Identification

[Content for step 1]

## Step 2: SBU Separation Rationale

[Content for step 2]

... (all 18 steps, in order)

## Sources

[Numbered list of every cited source: client docs, public sources, industry reports, Stone facts referenced]

## Open Questions

[Anything that could not be answered with available info]

## Change Log

### v1.0 — {date}
- Initial unbiased research version produced from Par