Concepts

The empathy file is where your concepts come from. Every concept must trace back to a specific insight, phrase, or moment from the empathy work. If a concept can't point to its origin in the empathy file, it's not grounded — cut it.

What to generate

For each segment, produce 6-8 concepts. Each concept is a creative direction, not a finished ad. Think of it as a brief for a copywriter.

Concept structure

For each concept:

Concept name — A short, memorable label (e.g., "The Wednesday Fix", "The Empty Chair", "Not a Networking Event")

The insight — The specific empathy finding this is built on. Quote or reference the exact moment from empathy.md. ("From the day-in-the-life: she passes a restaurant window and sees a group laughing...")

Emotional lever — What feeling does this concept pull on? Be specific. Not just "loneliness" — the specific flavour of it. ("The envy of watching other people's belonging.")

The angle — How does this concept frame the product? What's the narrative structure? ("Problem → unexpected solution → simple CTA")

2-3 headline directions — Not final copy, but directional headlines that show where this concept could go. These should be rough, punchy, and varied in tone.

Format fit — Which ad formats does this concept work best for? (Feed ad, Stories/Reels, carousel, video)

Test variable — What would you A/B test with this concept? Reference the test variables from creative-brief.md where relevant.

Concept quality bar

Good concepts:

• Are rooted in a specific empathy insight, not a generic marketing angle
• Have a clear emotional mechanism — you can explain WHY this would make someone stop scrolling
• Feel fresh — if a competitor could run the same ad, it's not differentiated enough
• Work as a creative direction, not just a clever headline
• Include at least one concept that's unexpected or risky — something that might not work but would be brilliant if it did

Bad concepts:

• Generic "meet new people" angles with no emotional specificity
• Concepts that could work for any social app (dating, networking, etc.)
• Anything that sounds like corporate marketing or "Hey bestie!" energy
• Concepts that require explaining the product before the emotion lands

Concept mix

Aim for a spread across these types:

• 2-3 emotional/story-driven — pull on a feeling, paint a picture
• 2-3 product-truth — lead with what makes the matching real and different
• 1-2 bold/provocative — the risky ones, the ones that might get talked about
• 1 format-specific — a concept designed specifically for Reels or Stories (visual/motion-first)

Output

Write the result to <segment-folder>/concepts.md.

# Creative Concepts: [Segment Name]

*Generated from profile.md + empathy.md*
*Brief: segments/creative-brief.md*

---

## Concept 1: [Name]

**Insight:** [quoted/referenced from empathy.md]

**Emotional lever:** [specific feeling]

**Angle:** [narrative structure]

**Headline directions:**
- [option 1]
- [option 2]
- [option 3]

**Format:** [best ad formats]

**Test:** [what to A/B test]

---

[repeat for each concept]

---

## Concept Priority

[Rank the concepts by expected impact. Explain your reasoning briefly — which 2-3 should be written first and why.]

Before saving

Read your concepts back and check:

• Does every concept trace to a specific empathy insight? (Not "loneliness" but "the specific moment she eats reheated pasta alone on Wednesday")
• Would a creative director look at this and know exactly what to brief a copywriter?
• Is there at least one concept you're genuinely excited about?
• Is there at least one that's risky enough to be interesting?
• Could any of these run for a generic social app? If yes, sharpen or cut them.