# Research Stage — Elaboration

## Criteria Guidance

### Good criteria — concrete and verifiable

- "Market brief identifies at least 3 competitor campaigns with positioning analysis for each"
- "Audience segments are defined with demographics, psychographics, and behavioral signals"
- "Competitive gap analysis surfaces at least 2 underserved messaging angles"

### Bad criteria — vague (no clear check)

- "Research is thorough"
- "Competitors are analyzed"
- "Audience is understood"

