---
id: "15.5"
title: "Launch tiers and playbooks"
dept: product-marketing
status: draft
owner: Param
branded: false
last_verified: 2026-10-26
sources:
  - "brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 programme, timeline, launch; h-1 gtm-versions"
  - "brew origin/main a559de6: legal-pages.js:36-40; public/app.js:404; SCOPE.md:36-39; tools/promote.sh"
  - "brew working tree docs/pricing.md:40, untracked"
  - "handbook content/product-marketing/release-notes.md, generated; content/marketing-and-growth/go-to-market.md"
  - "memory: brew-prod-backend, prod-clean-only, brew-live-stores, brew-pricing-parked, brand-directions-2026-10-25"
---

# Launch tiers and playbooks

## Answer

Every change brands will notice gets one of three tiers, and each tier gets a fixed kit; each version opening, v1 to v4, has its own playbook; no launch date exists, so reads open in small batches as design partners tell us it works.

## Today

### Where we are

| Fact | Source |
|---|---|
| Brew is in a design partner preview, free, and full terms come before it opens to everyone | [src: brew/legal-pages.js:36-40] |
| The landing says Design partner preview | [src: brew/public/app.js:404] |
| Five design partner prospects live on production since 25 Oct; Cozy Snugglet and Zenant are our test brands | [src: memory brew-live-stores] [src: memory brew-prod-backend] |
| Every release goes staging first, then the same image is promoted to production behind a clean gate | [src: memory brew-prod-backend] [src: memory prod-clean-only] |
| Release notes are written from the changelog on every build | [src: handbook content/product-marketing/release-notes.md] |
| No launch date, no public launch day, no product name decided | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 launch] [src: memory brand-directions-2026-10-25] |
| The first market and the first 100 brands are not decided | [src: handbook content/marketing-and-growth/go-to-market.md] |

### The openings the old book planned

| Opening | What it needs first | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Second partner cycle | First cycle notes reviewed, the first run pieces shipped | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 launch] |
| Open reads | Read cost under control, the cap lifted honestly | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 launch] |
| v2 | Posting with approval and undo, tested with partners | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 launch] |
| v3 | How it went per live pick | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 launch] |
| v4 | Rules and budget limits set by the founder | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 launch] |

Each opening got the same small kit in the old book: a reel in the character's voice, a founder post, an email to the waitlist and a note to partners first [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-6 launch].

### What may be said at each version

| Version | May say | Must never say yet | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| v1, today | Reads your store, drafts ideas, hands off to your team, your agency or our team | It posts, sends, schedules, launches or measures | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-1 gtm-versions] [src: brew/SCOPE.md:36-39] |
| v2 | Posts and schedules on your accounts, after your yes | It measures results | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-1 gtm-versions] |
| v3 | Shows how each live pick went | It runs ads alone | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-1 gtm-versions] |
| v4 | Runs ads inside rules and a budget you set | Anything beyond the rules | [src: brand-directions/book/content/h.js h-1 gtm-versions] |

## Tomorrow

### Three tiers, proposed

| Tier | What earns it | Example | Kit | Version | Tag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One | A new version, or a new power brands must say yes to | v2 posting with your yes | Partners told first by a founder, then a release note, a founder post, a reel, an email to everyone waiting, the demo and docs updated the same day | v2 to v4 | New |
| Two | A new thing inside the current version | The Brand Book, the viral video finder, a new connector | Release note, a line in the Friday partner note, one post, the demo updated | v1 | New |
| Three | A fix or a change in wording | A layout fix, a healed draft | Release note only | v1 | New |

### The playbook for each version

| Version | Before it opens | The message | Who hears first | Never | Tag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v1 | Partners hand off weekly; reads cost under control | Your week's marketing, drafted. You pick, someone ships | The five partners, then reads in small batches | A countdown or a fake spot left | v1, New |
| v2 | Posting with approval and undo tested on test brands, then partners | Your picks go out on your accounts, only after your yes | Partners who already hand off weekly | Auto posting without a yes | v2, New |
| v3 | Results tied to the Play that made them, on real accounts | Every pick that went live comes back with how it went | Partners with posts live on v2 | A lift we did not measure | v3, New |
| v4 | Rules, a budget cap and undo, set by the founder | Ads run inside the rules and budget you set | Partners who ask for it | Spend beyond the rules | v4, New |
| Every version | Current customers keep their price for 12 months, then move with 30 days' notice, once pricing is live | | | | v2 to v4, New, proposed [src: brew working tree docs/pricing.md:40] |

## How we do it

1. Name the tier when the change is planned, not after it ships.
2. Ship to staging, check on the five partners, then promote:

```
cd /Users/param/Documents/ChatGPT/brew && tools/promote.sh
```

3. Tier three: the release note writes itself from the changelog. Do nothing else.
4. Tier two: write one line for the Friday partner note and one post from the [messaging framework](/product-marketing/messaging-framework). Update the demo store.
5. Tier one: a founder tells each partner first, by call or a personal email, before any public word. Then the full kit the same day.
6. Check every line against [claims we can make](/product-marketing/claims-we-can-make). A version is never announced before it is live on production.
7. Log what went out in the [campaign log](/marketing-and-growth/campaign-log).

## Numbers

| Metric | Definition | Where measured | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Partners told first | Share of tier one launches where every partner heard before the public | Campaign log | Proposed |
| Use in week one | Share of active brands that used the new thing in its first 7 days | Product events, once logged | Proposed |
| Read requests per launch | Asks for a read in the 7 days after a tier one or two launch | Pipeline | Proposed |

## Open

1. **Is there a public launch day at all?** Proposal: no single day; open reads in small batches and treat v2 as the first tier one launch.
2. **Who calls the tier?** Proposal: Param, at planning, in the release's first line.
3. **Does the name come before any launch?** Proposal: yes; no tier one or two launch goes public before the name and the direction are picked.
4. **When do reads open past the five partners?** Proposal: when two partners hand off weekly for three weeks running, the same bar as v2 planning.