Launch campaign planning

Launch Campaign Planning

Purpose

Selects the right launch format for a discrete product or feature launch, then generates a structured phase plan: daily task list, market lane assignments, and human gate schedule. Operates before execution begins — this is the upstream planning skill; pmm/launch covers technical go-live QA and pmm/launch-readiness-review covers the readiness gate.

Built for PMMs and growth leads who need to structure a launch in under 2 hours without guessing at format or sequencing.

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Inputs

Input	Required?	Description
Product / feature name	Required	What is being launched
Launch scope	Required	Single market / multi-market / global
Markets in scope	Required	List of markets; flag which are localization-required
Team size	Required	Number of people available for active launch monitoring
Content depth	Required	Number of distinct feature or narrative angles available
Timeline available	Required	Days from now to target launch date
Enterprise pipeline goal	Optional	Whether ABM pipeline generation is a primary goal
Partner co-marketing	Optional	Whether a confirmed partner is participating
Brain context	Optional	Prior launch retro data, channel performance history

Brain read (if connected):

brain/read: prior_launch_retros, channel_performance, market_activation_history

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Outputs

Output	Format	Description
Format recommendation	Markdown decision record	Selected format with rationale and decision matrix scores
Phase plan	Markdown table	Day-by-day task list with owners and market assignments
Human gates schedule	Markdown checklist	Named gate events with deadline and approver
Pre-production timeline	Markdown checklist	D-14 / D-7 / D-1 milestones

Brain write (if connected):

brain/write: launch_format_selected, phase_plan_summary, human_gates_list

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Decision Logic

P0 Vetoes — check before any format decision

IF team_size < 5 AND timeline < 7d
  THEN: Recommend Blitz (3 days). Full Week and Launch Week both require sustained staffing.

IF localization_required_markets = 0
  THEN: Block Full Week. Full Week is only justified by multi-market localization complexity.

IF content_depth < 3 distinct angles
  THEN: Recommend Blitz. Do not pad a launch to 5 or 7 days with thin content.

IF product_market_fit_confirmed = false
  THEN: Recommend Blitz. Do not amplify unvalidated positioning at scale.

Format Selection Matrix

Signal	Blitz (3d)	Launch Week (5d)	Full Week (7d)
Localization-required markets	0	0–1	2+
Team size	≤5	5–8	9+
Content angles	1–2	3–5	6+
Enterprise pipeline goal	No	No	Yes
Partner co-marketing	No	Optional	Confirmed
Prep window available	<7d	7–13d	14d+

Decision rule:

• 4+ Full Week signals → Full Week
• 2–3 Full Week signals, market scope is the driver → Full Week eligible
• Default → Launch Week if ≥3 Launch Week signals; Blitz if <3

Phase generation rules

FOR each day in selected format:
  assign: label, 2–3 priority tasks scoped to product context
  assign: markets active on that day
  assign: owner role (HQ / local-team / all)

D-1: ALWAYS = pre-launch sync, asset delivery confirmation, readiness check
D0:  ALWAYS = hero announcement + primary channel activation
Final day: ALWAYS = metrics review + retrospective trigger

Enforced constraints:

• D2 (Full Week) is always local-team-led — HQ must not drive market-day content
• Human gates cannot be removed — they are structural, not optional checkpoints
• Format selection is locked before phase generation begins — do not mix format templates

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Cross-Review Triggers

Required before FINAL:

• pmm/launch-readiness-review/ — required when phase plan is complete; verifies technical and operational readiness before D0
• pmm/content-review/ — when hero post and social copy are included as outputs

Conditionally required:

• pmm/multi-market-launch-ops/ — when 2+ localization-required markets are in scope

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Shared-skill consultation

shared-skill: foundations/shared-skills/
signal-direction: growth → pmm
purpose: confirm market coordination model and local team availability before format selection

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Example Usage

Example 1: Single-market SaaS feature launch

Context: B2B SaaS startup, 4-person marketing team, launching a new analytics dashboard feature. US-only market. 10 days of prep time. Two distinct content angles (feature depth + use case).

Input:

• Markets: US only
• Team: 4 people
• Content angles: 2 (feature + use case)
• Prep window: 10 days
• Enterprise goal: No

Output:

FORMAT: Blitz (3 days)
RATIONALE: US-only scope, 2 content angles, team <5 — Launch Week would require padding.

PHASE PLAN:
D-1 | Pre-launch    | Finalize blog post, set publish timer, confirm Product Hunt listing
D0  | Hero Day      | Blog + HN + LinkedIn + email blast; founder posts personal take
D1  | Depth Day     | Use case post + changelog entry; respond to all D0 community engagement
D2  | Wrap          | Metrics snapshot; retro doc drafted

HUMAN GATES:
- [ ] D-1: CEO approves hero blog post (final version)
- [ ] D0: Founder personal post goes live within 2h of blog publish

Reviews triggered: pmm/launch-readiness-review

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Example 2: Multi-market developer tool launch

Context: Developer tools company, 8-person PMM + DevRel team. Launching v2.0 with breaking API changes. Markets: US, Germany, Japan. 14 days prep. 5 content angles.

Input:

• Markets: US (english-first), Germany (localization-required), Japan (localization-required)
• Team: 8 people
• Content angles: 5
• Prep window: 14 days
• Enterprise goal: No

Output:

FORMAT: Full Week (7 days)
RATIONALE: 2 localization-required markets (DE, JP) require local activation on D2; 5 content
angles fill D0–D4 without padding; 14-day prep window meets minimum.

PHASE PLAN:
D-1 | Pre-launch     | Global sync; asset delivery to DE/JP teams; war-room doc live
D0  | Hero Day       | Announcement + PH + HN (HQ); DE/JP teams launch local at local optimal time
D1  | Depth Day      | API migration guide; technical blog (HQ)
D2  | Market Day     | DE: local-language developer community activation per DE market policy (DE team) | JP: local-language developer community activation per JP market policy (JP team)
D3  | Use Case Day   | Customer story; HQ + local customer stories if available
D4  | Partner Day    | Integration announcement (if confirmed partner)
D5  | Community Day  | AMA; amplify user-generated content
D7  | Retro Day      | KPI review; market-by-market summary; decisions list

HUMAN GATES:
- [ ] D-7: DE and JP teams confirm local content is finalized
- [ ] D0: Founder personal post approved
- [ ] D0: Each local team lead confirms market went live
- [ ] D4: Partner comms approved by partner (if applicable)

Reviews triggered: pmm/launch-readiness-review, pmm/multi-market-launch-ops

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Example 3: Pre-PMF product launch (blitz forced)

Context: Early-stage startup, 3 people total, launching an MVP to a developer community. Product-market fit not confirmed. 5 days prep. One core angle.

Input:

• Markets: US (english-first)
• Team: 3 people
• Content angles: 1
• Prep window: 5 days
• PMF confirmed: No

Output:

FORMAT: Blitz (3 days)
RATIONALE: P0 veto applied — PMF not confirmed. Blitz limits exposure while learning. 1 content
angle cannot support Launch Week without padding. 3-person team cannot staff 5 days of monitoring.

PHASE PLAN:
D0 | Hero Day  | Show HN + blog post + founder personal post on X; one CTA only (try it)
D1 | Depth Day | Respond to all D0 feedback; publish first changelog entry with fixes
D2 | Wrap      | Metrics snapshot; qualitative feedback summary; go/no-go on next format

HUMAN GATES:
- [ ] D0: Founder personally posts Show HN (not delegated)
- [ ] D2: Go/no-go decision on continuing with full campaign vs. pausing for product iteration

Reviews triggered: pmm/launch-readiness-review

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Campaign asset dependency table

A launch campaign produces multiple interdependent assets. Producing them out of order — or simultaneously without a locked core message — causes revision loops that consume more time than the parallelism saves. This table captures every asset, what it requires as input, what it unblocks downstream, and its production priority.

Asset	Required input	Produces / feeds	Priority
Campaign brief	ICP card + positioning doc	All downstream assets	P0 — must be first
Core message (1 sentence, ≤15 words)	Campaign brief	Hook variants, ad copy, email subject	P0 — lock before any copy
Hook variants (3–5 alternatives)	Core message	Social posts, ad headlines, email openers	P1
Long-form anchor content (post/article/video)	Core message + hook variants	Short-form cuts, distribution references	P1
Short-form cuts (3–5)	Long-form anchor	Social distribution queue	P2
Email copy	Campaign brief + hook variants	Email channel	P2
Ad creative brief (if paid channel included)	Hook variants	Paid creative assets	P2

Production order rule: Campaign brief → Core message → Hook variants → Long-form → Short-form cuts. Do not produce short-form before long-form exists. Do not produce hook variants before core message is locked.

BLOCK conditions

IF campaign brief does not reference an ICP card
  BLOCK. Return:
  "Campaign brief missing ICP reference. Cannot determine correct hook angle or
   audience. Run pmm/icp-research first."

WARN conditions

IF >4 assets are in production simultaneously AND core message is not locked
  WARN. Return:
  "Lock core message before producing downstream assets — all assets will require
   revision if core message changes."

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Anti-patterns

Anti-pattern	Why it fails	Fix
Producing social posts before locking the core message	Every asset will carry a slightly different angle; revision cost exceeds any parallelism gain	Lock core message (P0) before any P1/P2 asset work begins

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Validation Criteria

Output passes if:

• Format selection decision matrix is shown with explicit scores
• At least one P0 veto check is run and documented (even if no veto triggered)
• Phase plan covers every day from D-1 to final day of the selected format
• Every phase has named tasks (≥2) and a named owner role
• Human gates are listed with approver and deadline — no anonymous gates
• Pre-production timeline is included
• Sources are declared and Tier-1 frameworks are cited
• Review triggers are listed with current status (pending / passed / waived)
• Output carries: Confidence: [0-100] and Review Trace: [list of reviews passed]
• Campaign asset dependency table is present with production order rule stated

Output fails if:

• Format is selected without running the decision matrix
• Full Week is recommended without localization-required markets in scope
• Phase plan has gaps (missing days within the format)
• Human gates are listed without approvers or deadlines
• Short-form or social assets are produced before long-form anchor content exists

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Benchmarks

Metric	Benchmark	Source
Blitz launch — Product Hunt top 10	Achievable for products with ≥500 pre-registered waitlist	Reforge Growth Series, 2023
Launch Week — D0 blog views	5,000–20,000 (growth stage); 1,000–5,000 (early stage)	aether-launch-copilot knowledge base, 2026
Full Week — multi-market activation	3+ localization-required markets needed to justify 7-day format	aether-launch-copilot knowledge base, 2026
Pre-production window — Full Week	D-14 minimum; D-21 recommended for 3+ localization markets	Reforge PLG Series, 2024

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References & Sources

Tier-1 frameworks used:

• Reforge Growth Series — Reforge — 2023–2024 — Format selection heuristics, launch staffing ratios

Tier-2 operator repos referenced:

• aether-growth/campaign/knowledge/formats/ — format definitions, decision matrix, KPI calibration — internal

Tier-3 supplemental context:

• aether-growth/campaign/knowledge/tactics/ — tactic sequencing per format day — internal

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Output metadata (append to every FINAL output):

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Skill: launch-campaign-planning v0.2.0
Role: growth
Confidence: [0-100]
Review Trace: [list of reviews passed, or "DRAFT — pending: [list]"]
Bridge Signals: none
Brain Context: [connected / not connected]
Sources: Reforge Growth Series 2023–2024; aether-launch-copilot knowledge base 2026
Generated: [date]
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