Most launch briefs are twelve pages of context and zero decisions. The team finishes the doc, ships the launch, and three weeks later sales is still pitching the old story because nobody wrote down what changed.
A positioning brief — the short, decision-forcing artifact below — solves a different problem than a launch plan. The plan answers when and where. The brief answers what we're saying, to whom, against what alternative, and which single claim will travel.
If four people on the launch team would write four different category nouns on a whiteboard, the brief isn't done.
The four decisions a brief has to force
Fill the brief
Use the template below. State persists in your browser, and the canonical Word version is linked at the bottom for sharing with the launch team.
Launch Positioning Brief
Eight fields. Two pages printed. If a field is hard to fill, that's the section the launch will fail on.
Before you ship the brief
Sign-off check
A brief that survives launch week is a brief whose decisions were specific enough to disagree with. If yours is too smooth to argue with, it's too vague to use.
Keep reading
Launch Announcement Template That Doesn't Suck
A fillable announcement template that forces you to name the buyer, the before-state, and the proof — before you write a single adjective
Feature Launch vs. Narrative Launch: Why Most Fail
A feature launch announces shipped code. A narrative launch advances a point of view. Why the latter is memorable, sellable, and defensible — and the test for which one you're running.
Launch Checklist for PMMs Who Hate Checklists (But Need One)
A short, opinionated launch checklist for PMMs who'd rather think than tick boxes — built around the four things that actually break on launch day
Positioning Brief
One page that keeps your whole team telling the same story.
The Positioning Brief is a living, one-page document the Analyst re-writes as your pillars, signals, and decisions change. Short enough for the board to read in four minutes, specific enough for a new hire to use on day one.
- ✓One page — readable by the board in four minutes
- ✓Re-writes itself as your market and strategy evolve
- ✓Bridges the gap between strategy and execution