Brando properties overview

The Brando Schema Vocabulary defines properties (predicates) that attach meaning to:

• brando:Brand
• brando:Context
• brando:BrandExpression and its subclasses (Verbal, Visual, Audio)
• brando:Policy
• brando:BrandedCategory
• brando:Campaign
• brando:AutomationRule

This page:

• groups Brando properties by function,
• explains how domain and range work,
• and shows how properties combine to form a Brand Knowledge Graph.

For per-property details (domain, range, examples), use the property pages under Schema → Properties in the navigation.

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1. How to read Brando properties

Every property in the vocabulary is defined as:

• an IRI (e.g. brando:toneOfVoice),
• a type:
  • owl:DatatypeProperty (links a node to a literal value like text or numbers), or
  • owl:ObjectProperty (links a node to another node),
• a domain (which classes it applies to),
• a range (what kind of value it points to),
• an rdfs:comment (normative description in English).

Example (verbal identity):

• brando:toneOfVoice
  • Type: owl:DatatypeProperty
  • Domain: Brando:VerbalIdentity
  • Range: xsd:string
  • Comment: “Emotional texture and attitude of the brand's voice in this token.”

In JSON-LD:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/tokens/verbal/default",
  "@type": "Brando:VerbalIdentity",
  "brando:toneOfVoice": "Calm, empathetic, precise. Explain trade-offs clearly."
}

---

2. High-level property groups

For implementation and modelling, it is useful to think of Brando properties in functional groups:

1. Identity & narrative – who the brand is.
2. Audience & context – who it is speaking to, and where.
3. Verbal expression – how it speaks.
4. Visual expression – how it looks.
5. Audio expression – how it sounds.
6. Governance & risk – policies and guard rails.
7. Automation & metrics – rules that react to signals.
8. Classification & product alignment – GS1/UNSPSC/Google taxonomy.
9. Files & integration – DAM, Brand OS, and external tools.
10. Lifecycle & process – enforcement level, review workflows.

The sections below summarise each group and highlight key properties.

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3. Identity & narrative properties

Primary domain: brando:Brand Purpose: capture brand strategy and positioning in machine-readable form.

Representative properties:

• brando:missionStatement Core purpose and day-to-day reason for existing.

• brando:visionStatement Aspirational future state the brand is working toward.

• brando:coreValues Foundational principles and beliefs that guide decisions.

• brando:brandPromise Core commitment or experience the brand guarantees to deliver.

• brando:brandNarrative Longer-form story describing origin, evolution, and purpose.

• brando:marketPosition How the brand positions itself relative to alternatives.

• brando:competitorContext Summary of competitors, adjacent solutions, and differentiation.

Example:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar",
  "@type": "brando:Brand",
  "schema:name": "Northstar Bank",
  "brando:missionStatement": "Financial clarity with absolute trust.",
  "brando:visionStatement": "Help people feel in control of their financial future.",
  "brando:coreValues": [
    "Clarity over complexity",
    "Do the right thing",
    "Long-term alignment with customers"
  ],
  "brando:brandPromise": "We will always explain the trade-offs clearly before you decide.",
  "brando:marketPosition": "Digital-first bank for risk-aware customers."
}

---

4. Audience & context properties

Primary domain: brando:Context (some also used on brando:Policy, brando:AutomationRule) Purpose: describe who, where, and under what conditions the brand is active.

Key properties:

• brando:audienceSegment Strategic grouping of individuals who share relevant needs or characteristics.

• brando:audiencePersona Persona-style archetypes (“Everyday saver”, “Enterprise buyer”).

• brando:domainContext Structured JSON-as-string describing channel, surface, region, etc.

• brando:appliesTo Optional scope for which products, personas, channels this node applies to.

• brando:effectiveDuring Time window or schedule as JSON-as-string.

Example:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/context/retail-chatbot",
  "@type": "brando:Context",
  "brando:audienceSegment": [
    "Retail banking customers",
    "Prospects researching savings accounts"
  ],
  "brando:audiencePersona": [
    "Everyday saver"
  ],
  "brando:domainContext": {
    "channel": "chatbot",
    "surface": "public-website",
    "region": "UK"
  },
  "brando:effectiveDuring": {
    "validFrom": "2025-01-01",
    "validThrough": null
  },
  "brando:appliesTo": "Savings accounts; current accounts"
}

---

5. Verbal expression properties

Primary domain: Brando:VerbalIdentity Purpose: define how the brand speaks (tone, style, vocabulary).

Core properties:

• brando:toneOfVoice Emotional texture and attitude of the voice.

• brando:dialogueStyle Conversational patterns, person/pronoun usage, pacing.

• brando:writingStyle Grammar, sentence structure, formality.

• brando:namingConvention How products, features, dates, etc. are named and formatted.

• brando:personaCard Humanised brand-as-person description.

Vocabulary and messaging:

• brando:approvedTerms Words and phrases encouraged in this token.

• brando:prohibitedTerms Words and phrases that must not be used.

• brando:keyMessages Core value propositions and recurring ideas.

• brando:tagline Primary tagline plus variants.

Behavioural rules and scaffolds:

• brando:promptScaffold Reusable instruction block or template for priming LLMs.

• brando:mustDos Required behaviours.

• brando:mustNotDos Banned behaviours or constructions.

Example:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/tokens/verbal/support",
  "@type": "Brando:VerbalIdentity",
  "brando:toneOfVoice": "Reassuring and efficient. Focus on clear next steps.",
  "brando:dialogueStyle": "Use second person, acknowledge emotion, then move to options.",
  "brando:writingStyle": "Short paragraphs, concrete steps, minimal jargon.",
  "brando:approvedTerms": [
    "interest rate",
    "fees",
    "savings goals"
  ],
  "brando:prohibitedTerms": [
    "get rich quick",
    "guaranteed returns"
  ],
  "brando:keyMessages": [
    "We explain your options clearly before you decide."
  ],
  "brando:promptScaffold": "You are Northstar Bank's support assistant for UK retail customers...",
  "brando:mustDos": [
    "Confirm understanding of the user's question before answering."
  ],
  "brando:mustNotDos": [
    "Do not speculate about regulatory outcomes."
  ]
}

---

6. Visual expression properties

Primary domain: Brando:VisualIdentity Purpose: define how the brand looks (logos, colours, typography, imagery, motion).

Key properties:

• brando:brandName How the brand name should appear in visual treatments.

• brando:logo Canonical URL for the primary logo asset or set.

• brando:colourPalette Colour system, often encoded as JSON-as-string (roles and values).

• brando:typography Typography system, often JSON-as-string (families, weights, sizes).

• Brando:VisualIdentity Design tokens such as spacing, radius, elevation (JSON-as-string).

• brando:imageryStyles Photography/illustration style and composition guidance.

• brando:motionRules Principles for animation and transitions.

• Brando:VisualIdentityUsageGuidelines Do’s and don’ts for applying the visual system.

Example:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/tokens/visual/master",
  "@type": "Brando:VisualIdentity",
  "brando:brandName": "Northstar",
  "brando:logo": "https://assets.example.com/northstar/brand/logo.svg",
  "brando:colourPalette": {
    "primary": "#4B3CFA",
    "secondary": "#11A39D",
    "neutral-100": "#FFFFFF"
  },
  "brando:typography": {
    "heading": "Inter",
    "body": "Inter",
    "mono": "Roboto Mono"
  },
  "brando:imageryStyles": "Natural light, real people, candid moments. Avoid generic stock imagery.",
  "Brando:VisualIdentityUsageGuidelines": [
    "Do not distort or recolour the primary logo.",
    "Use the primary colour only for key actions."
  ]
}

---

7. Audio expression properties

Primary domain: Brando:AudioIdentity Purpose: define how the brand sounds (voice, sonic logo, audio cues).

Key properties:

• Brando:AudioIdentityLogo URI of sonic logo or audio mark.

• brando:voiceSignature Voice profile description (accent, timbre, energy).

• brando:pronunciationGuide Pronunciation notes for brand and key terms.

• brando:speechStyle Rhythm, pacing, pausing, expressiveness.

• Brando:AudioIdentityCue Short sound cues used as confirmations, alerts, or transitions.

• Brando:AudioIdentityUsageGuidelines Rules for when and how audio is used.

• Brando:AudioIdentityReferenceLink URL to audio libraries or sonic style guides.

Example:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/tokens/audio/master",
  "@type": "Brando:AudioIdentity",
  "Brando:AudioIdentityLogo": "https://assets.example.com/northstar/audio/northstar-sonic-logo.mp3",
  "brando:voiceSignature": "Warm, mid-range UK English voice with calm, reassuring delivery.",
  "brando:speechStyle": "Moderate pace, clear articulation, brief pauses before key amounts or dates.",
  "Brando:AudioIdentityCue": [
    "success: soft ascending chime",
    "error: short descending tone"
  ],
  "Brando:AudioIdentityUsageGuidelines": [
    "Do not autoplay audio with sound on.",
    "Ensure all audio cues have visual equivalents for accessibility."
  ]
}

---

8. Governance & risk properties

Primary domain: brando:Policy Also used on: some other nodes where governance is relevant. Purpose: encode guard rails, risk, and retrieval rules.

Core policy properties:

• brando:guardRails Non-negotiable boundaries AI systems must not cross.

• brando:mustDos / brando:mustNotDos Required and forbidden behaviours.

• brando:refusalStrategies Patterns for declining or redirecting unsafe/out-of-scope requests.

• brando:riskScenarios Known edge cases that require caution.

• brando:complianceTags Tags for regimes such as GDPR, HIPAA, FCA.

• brando:riskTag Lightweight risk domain tags (“brand-safety”, “financial-regulation”).

• brando:enforcementLevel Strength of the policy (“mandatory”, “advisory”, “conditional”, etc.).

• brando:visibilityRating Qualitative indicator of how visible this policy should be to AI systems.

• brando:retrievableInLLM Boolean flag indicating whether the policy may be indexed or retrieved in LLM/RAG flows.

• brando:embeddingQuality Assessment of how well the content performs in vector search.

Process / lifecycle:

• brando:reviewWorkflow Description of human/automated review steps.

• brando:updatePolicy How often, and in what way, the policy is updated.

Example:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/policies/regulated-claims-uk",
  "@type": "brando:Policy",
  "brando:enforcementLevel": "mandatory",
  "brando:riskTag": [
    "financial-regulation",
    "consumer-protection"
  ],
  "brando:guardRails": [
    "Do not promise guaranteed investment returns.",
    "Do not provide personalised investment advice."
  ],
  "brando:refusalStrategies": [
    "Explain that you cannot provide personalised investment advice.",
    "Offer to connect the user with a regulated advisor."
  ],
  "brando:complianceTags": [
    "FCA",
    "UK-financial-promotions"
  ],
  "brando:retrievableInLLM": true,
  "brando:reviewWorkflow": "Compliance team reviews this policy monthly and after any regulatory change.",
  "brando:updatePolicy": "Update within 30 days of new FCA guidance affecting retail promotions."
}

---

9. Automation & metrics properties

Primary domain: brando:AutomationRule Purpose: describe conditions and actions for automated governance.

Core automation properties:

• brando:triggerType Type of event or condition that activates the rule.

• brando:monitoredMetric JSON-as-string describing metric, thresholds, operators.

• brando:dataSource API endpoint or data source providing signals.

• brando:automationAction JSON-as-string describing the actions to take when conditions are met.

Example:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/automation/rag-high-risk-monitor",
  "@type": "brando:AutomationRule",
  "brando:triggerType": "metric-threshold",
  "brando:monitoredMetric": {
    "name": "unsafe_output_rate",
    "threshold": 0.05,
    "operator": ">",
    "window": "7d"
  },
  "brando:dataSource": "https://monitoring.example.com/api/metrics/unsafe_output_rate",
  "brando:automationAction": {
    "actionType": "increase_enforcement",
    "targetPolicies": [
      "https://example.com/brand/northstar/policies/global-brand-safety"
    ],
    "newLevel": "mandatory",
    "notify": [
      "risk-team@northstar.example"
    ]
  },
  "brando:enforcementLevel": "mandatory",
  "brando:riskTag": [
    "brand-safety",
    "llm-guardrails"
  ]
}

---

10. Classification & product alignment properties

Primary domain: brando:BrandedCategory Also used in: some policy/product-scoping flows. Purpose: align brand categories with GS1, UNSPSC, Google Product Taxonomy.

Core category properties:

• brando:productCategoryName Brand-facing category label.

• brando:categoryDepartment Department-level category inside the brand.

• brando:categoryClass Class-level category.

• brando:categoryItemType Specific item type.

Classification alignment:

• brando:gpcCategoryCode GS1 GPC brick code.

• brando:gpcCategoryDescription Human-readable GS1 GPC description.

• brando:unspscCode UNSPSC code.

• brando:googleProductCategoryId Google Product Taxonomy identifier.

Product-level scoping:

• brando:appliesToGTIN GTIN(s) for which this category or policy applies.

• brando:appliesToProduct Links to gs1:Product nodes.

Example:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/categories/savings-accounts",
  "@type": "brando:BrandedCategory",
  "brando:productCategoryName": "Savings accounts",
  "brando:categoryDepartment": "Banking",
  "brando:categoryClass": "Deposit accounts",
  "brando:categoryItemType": "Savings accounts",
  "brando:gpcCategoryCode": "43191500",
  "brando:gpcCategoryDescription": "Savings and investment accounts (example only)",
  "brando:unspscCode": "84131500",
  "brando:googleProductCategoryId": "Finance > Banking Services",
  "brando:appliesToGTIN": [
    "12345678901234",
    "12345678905678"
  ]
}

---

11. Files & integration properties

Domains: brando:Brand, brando:Context, brando:BrandExpression, brando:Policy, brando:BrandedCategory, brando:Campaign, brando:AutomationRule Purpose: connect Brando nodes to actual assets and external systems.

Asset properties:

• brando:downloadableFile (object, range: schema:MediaObject) Links to canonical, production-ready assets (e.g. logo packs, guidelines).

• brando:supportingFile (object, range: schema:MediaObject) Links to secondary or supporting assets.

• brando:assetURL (literal) Canonical URL for a primary asset (usually at BrandExpression level).

• brando:assetPreview (literal) Preview-friendly URL for UI thumbnails/short clips.

Integration properties:

• brando:externalSystem (object, range: schema:SoftwareApplication) Which tool or platform this node is mapped to.

• brando:externalSystemId (literal) Identifier of the corresponding object in that system.

Example:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar",
  "@type": "brando:Brand",
  "schema:name": "Northstar Bank",
  "brando:downloadableFile": {
    "@id": "https://assets.example.com/northstar/brand/core-guidelines.pdf",
    "@type": "schema:MediaObject",
    "schema:name": "Northstar Brand Core Guidelines (PDF)",
    "schema:contentUrl": "https://assets.example.com/northstar/brand/core-guidelines.pdf"
  },
  "brando:externalSystem": {
    "@id": "https://example.com/integrations/adobe-genstudio"
  },
  "brando:externalSystemId": "northstar_brand_master"
}

---

12. Lifecycle & campaign properties

Domains: brando:Campaign, brando:Context, brando:Policy Purpose: model time-bounded overlays and lifecycle.

Core campaign properties:

• brando:campaignName Human-readable campaign name.

• brando:campaignTheme Central message/creative theme.

Time-bounding / lifecycle:

• brando:effectiveDuring JSON-as-string time window or schedule.

In practice, you often combine:

• brando:effectiveDuring (Brando)
• schema:startDate / schema:endDate (Schema.org Event semantics on brando:Campaign)

Example:

{
  "@id": "https://example.com/brand/northstar/campaigns/summer-savings-2025",
  "@type": "brando:Campaign",
  "brando:campaignName": "Summer Savings 2025",
  "brando:campaignTheme": "Make your summer money go further without adding risk.",
  "brando:effectiveDuring": {
    "validFrom": "2025-06-01",
    "validThrough": "2025-08-31"
  },
  "schema:startDate": "2025-06-01",
  "schema:endDate": "2025-08-31"
}

---

13. Putting properties together at runtime

At runtime, a Brand OS typically:

1. Resolves a brando:Brand node.
2. Selects a relevant brando:Context.

3. Walks:

   • brando:usesVerbal / usesVisual / usesAudio,
   • brando:hasPolicy,
   • brando:hasAutomationRule,
   • brando:hasProductCategory (if a product is in scope),
   • brando:hasCampaign (if within a campaign window).

   • Reads properties on those nodes to:

   • construct prompts and system messages,

   • apply guard rails and risk rules,
   • set up visual and audio tokens,
   • integrate with DAM/Brand OS and external tools.

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14. Where to go next

• For class-level structure:

  • Brando types overview

• For property-level details:

  • Use the individual pages under Schema → Properties in the navigation (for example, brando:toneOfVoice, brando:guardRails, etc.).

• For concrete patterns and end-to-end flows:

  • Quickstart (JSON-LD)
  • Quickstart (YAML)
  • Runtime Integration (LLMs, MCP, APIs)