# Edge Cases and Special Handling

## Insufficient Content

If fewer than 3,000 words are available:
- Proceed with analysis but mark all findings as "Low Confidence"
- Recommend specific additional content to provide
- Generate a partial guide with clear "[NEEDS MORE DATA]" markers

## Multiple Distinct Voices

If the content clearly reflects multiple authors with different styles:
- Note the range of variation for each dimension
- Recommend which voice to standardize on (or present options)
- Flag the most divergent content with specific examples

## Heavily Templated Content

If content is mostly boilerplate or template-driven:
- Separate templated elements from original writing
- Analyze only original content for voice extraction
- Note which templates are in use and whether they align with the organic voice

## Regulated Industries

If the company operates in a regulated space (finance, healthcare, legal):
- Flag mandatory language and disclosures separately from voice choices
- Note where regulatory requirements constrain voice options
- Suggest how to maintain brand voice within compliance boundaries

## Brand in Transition

If the user mentions a rebrand or voice evolution:
- Analyze current state and document it as "Current Voice"
- Ask about aspirational direction
- Generate a transition guide with "Current -> Target" mappings
- Suggest a phased rollout for voice changes

## Interaction Patterns

### URL-Based Analysis
```
User: Analyze the brand voice for https://example.com
Action: WebFetch homepage, about page, blog index. Follow links to collect
        5+ blog posts. Search for social media accounts. Build corpus.
        Run full analysis. Generate guide.
```

### File-Based Analysis
```
User: Here are our last 20 blog posts in /content/blog/
Action: Glob for markdown/text files. Read all posts. Compute metrics
        per post and aggregate. Run full analysis. Generate guide.
```

### Mixed Sources
```
User: Our website is example.com, here are some emails in /marketing/emails/,
      and I'll paste some social posts.
Action: Collect from all three sources. Analyze each channel independently
        first, then cross-compare. Note channel-specific variations.
        Generate guide with per-channel tone adjustments.
```

### Content Review
```
User: Review this blog post against our brand voice guide
Action: Load brand-voice-guide.md. Analyze the draft. Score on all
        dimensions. Flag issues with fixes. Present structured review.
```

### Competitive Voice Comparison
```
User: Compare our voice to [competitor]
Action: Analyze both brands independently. Create side-by-side comparison
        on all dimensions. Identify differentiation opportunities.
        Suggest how to sharpen distinctive voice elements.
```

# Brand Voice Guide Template

Generate a file called `brand-voice-guide.md` in the working directory (or a user-specified location). The guide must be structured, actionable, and usable by any writer regardless of familiarity with the brand.

## Required Sections

The guide MUST include all of the following:

```
# [Company Name] Brand Voice Guide

## Quick Reference Card
[One-page summary a writer can tape to their monitor]

## Voice Identity
### Who We Are (3-5 personality traits with definitions)
### Who We Are NOT (common pitfalls and anti-patterns)
### Our Audience (who we are talking to and how we see them)

## Tone Spectrum
[Visual spectrum ratings with explanations]
### Tone Shifts by Context
[How tone adjusts for: marketing, support, social, crisis, internal]

## Word Banks
### Power Words (use these)
### Caution Words (use sparingly)
### Banned Words (never use these)
### Jargon Guide (when to use, when to explain, when to avoid)
### Signature Phrases

## Sentence and Structure Guide
### Length Guidelines
### Preferred Constructions
### Formatting Rules

## Content Type Templates
### Website Copy
### Blog Posts
### Email Marketing
### Social Media (per platform)
### Support/Help Content
### Sales Collateral

## Dos and Don'ts
[Paired examples showing correct vs. incorrect voice]
[At least 10 pairs covering different scenarios]

## Example Rewrites
[Take 5 pieces of generic/off-brand content and rewrite them in the brand voice]
[Show before and after with annotations explaining each change]

## Review Checklist
[Scorecard a writer can use to self-check content before publishing]

## Appendix: Source Analysis
[Summary of what content was analyzed, word counts, confidence levels]
```

## Guide Quality Standards

- Include at least one concrete example with every recommendation
- Show Dos and Don'ts as paired comparisons, not just rules
- Give templates sentence starters, transition phrases, and structural patterns
- Keep the guide internally consistent -- no contradictory advice
- Make the guide at least 400 lines to provide adequate depth
- Use markdown formatting throughout for readability
- Include a version date and list of analyzed sources

## Quality Checks Before Delivery

Before presenting the guide, verify:

- [ ] All tone spectrum ratings have justifications with examples
- [ ] Power words list has at least 15 entries
- [ ] Taboo words list has at least 5 entries
- [ ] At least 10 paired Dos/Don'ts examples are included
- [ ] At least 5 example rewrites are included with annotations
- [ ] Content type templates cover at least 4 different types
- [ ] The guide is internally consistent (no contradictory advice)
- [ ] Source analysis appendix lists all analyzed content
- [ ] The guide exceeds 400 lines

# Analysis Techniques

## Quantitative Metrics

For each content source, compute:

- **Word count** and **unique word count**
- **Lexical diversity** (unique words / total words)
- **Average sentence length** (words per sentence)
- **Average paragraph length** (sentences per paragraph)
- **Readability estimate** (approximate Flesch-Kincaid grade level)
- **Active vs. passive voice ratio**
- **Question frequency** (questions per 1000 words)
- **Exclamation frequency** (exclamation marks per 1000 words)
- **First / second / third person pronoun ratios**

## Qualitative Patterns

For each content source, evaluate:

- **Opening patterns** -- how the brand starts pieces: hook, question, statistic, story, declaration
- **Closing patterns** -- how the brand ends: CTA, summary, question, inspiration, next steps
- **Metaphor and analogy usage** -- frequency, domains drawn from (sports, nature, technology, etc.)
- **Storytelling tendency** -- narrative, customer stories, founder stories, hypotheticals
- **Data usage** -- how often statistics are cited and how they are presented
- **Social proof patterns** -- testimonials, case studies, logos, numbers
- **Emotional arc** -- how the emotional tone shifts within a single piece

## Cross-Channel Comparison

When content from multiple channels is available:

- Identify which voice traits remain consistent across channels
- Document intentional tone shifts (e.g., more casual on social, more formal in whitepapers)
- Flag unintentional inconsistencies that suggest a lack of voice governance
- Map the "tone dial" -- which dimensions shift and by how much per channel

## Citation Standards

- Reference specific source content for every claim about the brand voice
- Use this format: `[Source: Blog Post - "Title", para 3]` or `[Source: Homepage, hero section]`
- If a finding appears in 3+ sources, note it as a "Strong Pattern"
- If a finding appears in only 1 source, note it as a "Tentative Pattern"

# Content Review Mode

Use when reviewing content against an existing brand voice guide.

## Review Process

1. **Load the guide**: Read the brand-voice-guide.md file (ask for its location if not obvious)
2. **Analyze the draft**: Read the content to be reviewed
3. **Score across dimensions**: Rate the content on each tone spectrum dimension and compare to the guide's targets
4. **Flag violations**: Identify specific words, phrases, or structures that deviate from the guide
5. **Suggest fixes**: For every flagged issue, provide a rewritten alternative that matches the voice
6. **Overall assessment**: Provide a voice compliance score (0-100) with breakdown

## Review Output Format

```markdown
## Brand Voice Review

**Content**: [Title or description of reviewed content]
**Voice Compliance Score**: [X]/100

### Tone Alignment
| Dimension | Target | Actual | Delta | Status |
|-----------|--------|--------|-------|--------|
| Formality | X | Y | +/-Z | [On/Off] |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |

### Flagged Issues

#### Issue 1: [Category]
- **Location**: [Quote from the content]
- **Problem**: [What is wrong and why]
- **Suggested fix**: [Rewritten version]
- **Guide reference**: [Which section of the guide this violates]

[Repeat for all issues]

### Positive Highlights
[What the content does well -- reinforce good patterns]

### Summary Recommendations
[Top 3-5 changes that would have the most impact]
```

## Review Principles

- Be specific. "This feels off-brand" is not useful. "The word 'synergy' in paragraph 3 conflicts with the taboo words list" is useful.
- Reference the exact guide section for every flagged issue.
- Reinforce good patterns, not only violations.

# Voice Extraction Dimensions

Analyze collected content across these dimensions. For each, cite specific examples from the source material.

## Tone Spectrum

Rate the brand on each scale from 1 to 10, with justification:

| Dimension | Scale |
|-----------|-------|
| Formality | 1 (Casual/Conversational) ---- 10 (Formal/Academic) |
| Humor | 1 (Serious/Straight) ---- 10 (Playful/Witty) |
| Confidence | 1 (Humble/Tentative) ---- 10 (Bold/Authoritative) |
| Warmth | 1 (Detached/Neutral) ---- 10 (Warm/Empathetic) |
| Complexity | 1 (Simple/Plain) ---- 10 (Technical/Sophisticated) |
| Energy | 1 (Calm/Measured) ---- 10 (Energetic/Urgent) |
| Irreverence | 1 (Traditional/Safe) ---- 10 (Edgy/Provocative) |

## Vocabulary Patterns

Identify and categorize:

- **Power Words** -- Words the brand uses repeatedly and intentionally. These define the brand. Examples: "empower," "seamless," "craft," "unlock." Collect at least 15-25.
- **Filler Words** -- Words that appear frequently but dilute the voice. Flag overuse. Examples: "just," "really," "very," "actually," "basically."
- **Taboo Words** -- Words the brand clearly avoids based on positioning. Examples: a luxury brand avoiding "cheap" or "discount"; a tech company avoiding "complicated" or "confusing."
- **Jargon Inventory** -- Industry terms, categorized by:
  - Terms used freely (audience is expected to know them)
  - Terms always defined or explained on first use
  - Terms never used (competitor terminology, outdated terms)
- **Signature Phrases** -- Recurring phrases, taglines, or constructions unique to the brand. Note exact phrasing and where they appear.

## Sentence Structure

Analyze and document:

- **Average sentence length** (in words) across content types
- **Sentence variety** -- ratio of short (<10 words), medium (10-25), and long (25+) sentences
- **Preferred constructions** -- active or passive voice? Declarative, interrogative, or imperative sentences?
- **Paragraph length** -- average sentences per paragraph, use of one-sentence paragraphs
- **List usage** -- frequency of bulleted/numbered lists vs. prose
- **Fragment usage** -- intentional sentence fragments for effect?
- **Transition patterns** -- how the brand connects ideas: conjunctions, transitional phrases, or abrupt shifts

## Personality Traits

Distill the brand voice into 3-5 personality traits using this format:

**[Trait Name]**: [One-sentence definition of what this means for the brand]
- This means: [Specific behavioral examples]
- This does NOT mean: [Common misinterpretations to avoid]
- Example from source: [Direct quote demonstrating the trait]

Common trait categories to consider: Authoritative vs. Approachable, Innovative vs. Reliable, Bold vs. Measured, Empathetic vs. Objective, Direct vs. Diplomatic.

## Audience Awareness

Determine how the brand relates to its audience:

- **Point of view**: first person singular (I/me), first person plural (we/us), second person (you), third person
- **Reader relationship**: peer, mentor, guide, authority, friend, advisor
- **Assumed knowledge level**: beginner, intermediate, expert, mixed
- **Emotional appeals**: which emotions the brand evokes -- trust, excitement, curiosity, belonging, aspiration
- **Inclusivity patterns**: use of gendered language, cultural references, accessibility of examples

## Formatting and Visual Voice

Document preferences for:

- **Capitalization**: title case vs. sentence case for headings, CTAs, navigation
- **Punctuation habits**: Oxford comma, exclamation point frequency, em dash vs. parenthetical, ellipsis usage
- **Number formatting**: spelled out vs. digits, percentage symbols, currency formatting
- **Abbreviation policy**: when to abbreviate, acronym introduction style
- **CTA style**: button text patterns, link text conventions
- **Heading style**: question-based, statement-based, action-oriented