The Proof

Reverse-engineer strategy from existing creative work.

"Most creative work contains an implied strategy. The Proof makes that strategy visible, testable, and presentable."

The Core Insight

Agencies often create before they strategise. Ideas get approved, campaigns launch, and only later does someone ask: "What was the strategy behind this?" The Proof works backwards from finished creative to surface the strategic framework that the work implies.

This is not reverse-engineering in an academic sense. It is practical strategy extraction that lets you present creative work with strategic backing, stress-test ideas against rigour, or compare what you built against what was briefed.

Why This Tool Exists

Three common situations call for The Proof:

• Post-hoc strategy: You have creative work the client loves but no formal strategy document. The Proof builds one.
• Creative stress-testing: Before presenting, check whether the creative actually serves the strategy it claims to serve.
• Pitch comparison: Import a completed pitch and compare the decoded strategy against it. Find gaps before the client does.

How It Works

Step 1: Brand Context

Provide brand identity: name, industry, and region. Optionally add a brand description, client name, competitors, and website.

You can also import from a completed pitch to pre-fill fields and enable comparison mode.

Brand Context Documents

Upload materials that explain the brand: guidelines, strategy documents, campaign history, market research. These enrich the AI's understanding of the brand and improve decode accuracy. Up to 5 files.

Brand Validation

When you click "Validate Brand", the tool checks two things:

Validation produces one of three outcomes:

Industry validation is blocking: you cannot proceed with an invalid industry. Brand recognition is advisory: you can always proceed, but the tool is honest about what it can and cannot do.

Step 2: Creative Input

You can provide creative input in two ways: describe the work in text, upload images of it, or both.

Image Uploads

Upload images of the creative work directly: print ads, storyboards, social posts, billboard mockups, packaging, campaign visuals. The AI analyses the images using vision capabilities. When images are uploaded, the text description becomes optional. You can skip straight to decode or add context to sharpen results.

Text Description

If no images are uploaded, a text description of at least 100 characters is required. Richer descriptions produce better decodes. See the Decode Guide for what makes a good creative input.

Structured Prompts

Expand the "Want a sharper decode?" accordion for guided input fields:

• What is the creative idea? The core concept, separated from the execution format.
• What does the audience experience? What they see, hear, or interact with.
• Where does it run? Channels, media, formats.
• What response is it trying to provoke? The intended emotional or behavioural shift.

These fields are optional but significantly improve decode quality. They are concatenated with the main description before analysis.

Creative Work Uploads

Upload the actual creative you want to decode: print ads, storyboards, key visuals, scripts, radio/video transcripts, social media content, campaign decks, creative briefs. Images (JPG, PNG, GIF, WEBP) are analysed visually. Documents (PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text) have their text extracted. Up to 5 files.

For best results, upload materials from a single campaign or execution. Multiple campaigns should be decoded separately.

Step 3: Decode

The AI analyses your creative work against the brand context and produces a complete reverse-engineered strategy brief. This covers eight fields drawn from across the Threader Suite: problem, convention, audience tension, positioning, direction, exclusions, organising thought, and brand attitude.

Step 4: Results

All decoded fields are editable. Each carries a confidence rating (High, Medium, Low) based on how much evidence the creative input provided. Fields decoded from rich descriptions receive high confidence. Fields requiring significant inference receive low.

The Decoded Strategy synthesises everything into a single editable sentence.

Re-decode with Edits

If you edit decoded fields and then re-decode, your edits are preserved as "golden threads". The AI treats your refinements as the strategic direction and refines around them rather than starting from scratch. This lets you iteratively sharpen the decode without losing your work.

Comparison Mode

When you import a completed pitch in Step 1, the Proof runs a second analysis comparing the decoded strategy against the pitch strategy. This produces:

• Per-field alignment status: Aligned, Divergent, or Partial
• An overall alignment percentage
• A strategic recommendation on whether to adjust the creative, adjust the strategy, or accept the divergence

Strategic Confidence

The confidence score uses the same three-factor system as all Threader Suite tools:

Hover the ? icon on the confidence badge to see the full breakdown. Uploading brand documents and creative assets directly increases the Client Input score, which is the most actionable way to improve confidence.

Tips for Best Results

• Describe, don't evaluate. Tell the tool what the creative does, not whether it is good.
• Include channels and context. Where the work runs affects the decoded strategy significantly.
• Use the structured prompts. They force you to separate idea from execution, which produces sharper decodes.
• Upload brand documents for unknown brands. If the validation shows amber or red, brand guidelines or strategy docs make a significant difference.
• Upload the brief. If you have the original brief, upload it to the brand context section. It grounds the decode.
• Edit the output. The decode is a starting point. Your strategic judgment refines it. Re-decoding after edits preserves your direction.

Mode & Access