# ProphetX — AI Brand Context · Messaging

**Version 2.1 · August 2026** · Supersedes v2.0 (2026-08-11).
Machine-readable messaging context for AI / MCP consumers. Human-facing UI lives in the brand book.

> **Companion file:** [`prophetx-brand-messaging-v2.md`](./prophetx-brand-messaging-v2.md) is the finalised human-facing messaging document. This file mirrors its rules for AI consumption.
>
> **Related AI context files** (choose the one that matches your surface):
> - **This file (`prophetx-ai-context-messaging.md`)** — messaging only. Voice, hierarchy, vocab, marketing lines. Use for copy, scripts, ad lines, voice work, PR — anything language-first.
> - **`prophetx-ai-context-marketing.md`** — this messaging content + Marketing visual system (Big Shoulders, consumer surfaces).
> - **`prophetx-ai-context-corporate.md`** — this messaging content + Corporate visual system (Fraunces, editorial).
>
> **Sync rule:** This file is the source of truth for the shared messaging block. The two scoped files inject its content between `<!-- MESSAGING BLOCK BEGIN -->` … `<!-- MESSAGING BLOCK END -->` markers via `scripts/rebuild-ai-contexts.mjs`. Never edit inside those markers by hand — the script overwrites.

---

## What this file is

Instructions for AI models and MCP servers writing on-brand ProphetX copy. Everything here loads before any generative work that involves language — copy, video scripts, voiceovers, ad lines, blog posts, PR, email, script sign-offs, deck narrative.

Sections:
- **A. Brand fundamentals** — mission, positioning, WHO/WHAT/WHY/WHEN/WHERE/HOW, restraint.
- **A2. Message hierarchy** — three pillars (P1/P2/P3) and the four audience tiers (T1–T4).
- **B. Approved lines** — every ProphetX line, verbatim.
- **C. Voice & vocabulary** — how we sound; word swaps; hard bans.
- **D. Content rules** — tag every asset; format library.
- **E. Features** — current promotable set (dated).
- **G. Competitor angles.**
- **H. Craft standard** — the tone / quality bar every piece of ProphetX work has to clear.

For visual rules (color, type, gradient, logo integrity) grab the scoped file that matches your surface — Marketing or Corporate.

---

## How to apply these rules (default behavior)

These rules **shape every ProphetX generation by default**. When a user asks for on-brand ProphetX copy — script, ad line, deck narrative, PR — follow the guidance below without prompting. Correct vocabulary, approved lines only, vocab bans applied silently.

## Elastic override with affirmation

The rules are the default, not an absolute cage. If a user explicitly asks for something outside brand — a test variant, an internal experiment, a satirical / creative exploration, or a specific line the user knows is off-brand — an AI assistant may proceed, but only after this two-step:

1. **Warn.** Name the specific rule the request violates and describe the on-brand default. Example: *"Your requested headline uses 'Bet Big Now,' which conflicts with the 'trade is the default' rule (no A/B carve-out in v2.0). The on-brand alternative would be 'Trade Now.' Do you still want the off-brand version?"*
2. **Wait for explicit affirmation.** Do not generate the off-brand output until the user confirms (a clear yes, "proceed anyway," "I know it's off-brand, do it," etc.). Silence, ambiguity, or a follow-up unrelated question is NOT confirmation.

Once affirmed, generate the off-brand output but **label it clearly as off-brand** (e.g., preface with `⚠ OFF-BRAND — user override`), and never present it as sanctioned brand copy. If the request also wants the on-brand version, produce both, clearly separated.

**What this override is NOT:**
- Not a workaround for regulatory / legal rules. The following stay non-negotiable regardless of user affirmation:
  - Logo integrity (never redraw / regenerate the wordmark from scratch — always place the approved SVG).
  - CFTC-required paid-marketing disclaimer on paid ads.
  - "All 50 states" claim (never — states drop offline during litigation).
  - Guaranteed-return language ("risk-free," "guaranteed," "sure thing," "lock").
- Not automatic. Every off-brand request needs its own warn + affirm cycle. A prior affirmation does not carry into a new request.
- Not a default. If the user hasn't asked for off-brand output, don't ask if they want it — just generate on-brand.

The point of the override is creative elasticity, not brand erosion. When in doubt, warn and default to on-brand.

---

## A. Brand fundamentals

### WHO
Sports fans who take the game seriously — at any level. Product designed around disciplined traders (sharps). Most marketing aims at enthusiasts (~90% of campaigns) — strategy-driven fans who shop the line and consider themselves sharp-adjacent. Casual fans are welcome and convert well on big moments; not the design target.

### WHAT
A federally regulated exchange where sports fans trade against each other. **Not** a sportsbook, casino, or general-purpose prediction market. Users take positions on sports event contracts; the other side of every trade is another person.

### WHY
A sportsbook's margin is baked into the line. That isn't a fee users can opt out of — it's the business model, and the model needs users to lose. ProphetX is consumer-first literally: when users win, the product is working as designed.

### WHEN
Prediction markets crossed from novelty to regulated infrastructure. Sports became the biggest thing traded on them. Whoever got there first built for elections / crypto and bolted sports on late. In-game trading is fluid: prices move on injuries, mid-drive, after the whistle — positions aren't frozen after entry.

### WHERE
Federally regulated, legal, live nationwide. iOS, Android, web — full trading on all three. Most of the audience doesn't know a product like this is legal where they live, or that it exists at all.

### HOW
Take a price or set your own. Post the price you want and wait for someone to take the other side. No trading desk, no house position, no line shaded against the user.

### Restraint
Precise, confident, never hyped. F1-level quality bar for tone, restraint, and production value. F1 is a reference for tone and craft, not a costume — racing imagery, checkered-flag / pit-lane motifs turn a tone reference into on-the-nose theming and dilute the point. A considered mention of F1 in editorial, partner content, or brand storytelling — where the comparison is real (production standard, technical audience, seriousness the sport is treated with) — is fine. In consumer-facing hero copy it's usually the wrong lens: the audience is a sports fan first, and F1 in the hero displaces the sport they came for.

---

## A2. Message hierarchy — pillars and audiences

Every ProphetX asset ladders to exactly one of three pillars. Pillars are the arguments; approved lines (section B) are the fixed phrasings. Work from the pillar's *argument* and *tone*, then reach for the right line from B.

### The two audiences (identity vs. acquisition)

There's an identity audience and an acquisition audience, and they aren't the same people. The product is shaped around **sharps** — disciplined, high-volume traders who find ProphetX through reputation and trade channels rather than mass-market advertising. Roughly **90% of campaigns should aim at enthusiasts** — strategy-driven fans who shop the line, run a system, and consider themselves sharp-adjacent. Sharps understand creative built for enthusiasts; the reverse is not true.

| Tier | Who | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| **T1** | **Sharps** — high-volume traders. Don't explain the concept; show depth. | Identity audience |
| **T2** | **Enthusiasts** — shop the line, have a system, sharp-adjacent. | ~90% of campaigns |
| **T3** | **Recreational fans** and existing prediction-market users. | Secondary |
| **T4** | **Casual fans**, big-event traders. | Broad reach |

### P1 · Payout Advantage — the Value Gap

**Argument** — Same game, same trade, more money back. A sportsbook's cut is inside the line, so it applies whether you win or lose and compounds across legs. Remove the house and that value returns to the trader.

**Audience** — T2 primary · T1 primary
**Against** — Sportsbooks (DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM)
**Tone** — Factual with weight. A structural revelation, not a promo. Let the number close the argument.

### P2 · Sports Depth — the Product Gap

**Argument** — ProphetX is sports-native and the alternatives aren't. Generalist regulated markets were built for elections and crypto, then added sports — so the markets are thin, the pricing display is unfamiliar, and the language assumes you've never watched a game. ProphetX was built for people who already know sports and expect the product to know it too.

**Audience** — T3 primary · T1 primary
**Against** — Generalist prediction markets (Kalshi, Polymarket)
**Tone** — Credibility, not claim. Warm but authoritative.

### P3 · Regulated Access — the Awareness Gap

**Argument** — Federally regulated, legal, live nationwide. The obstacle here isn't a competitor, it's unfamiliarity — most of the audience doesn't know this product is legal, legitimate, or open to them.

**Audience** — T2 · T3 · T4 all primary
**Against** — Unawareness, the state-by-state sportsbook patchwork, offshore alternatives
**Tone** — Calm authority. Factual, never boastful. Reassurance the audience didn't know it needed.

### How to use pillars in generation

- Every asset ladders to **one** pillar. If the brief doesn't name one, infer from the argument being made. Trust: fold into P3.
- **Do not treat pillar argument text as copy** — it's strategy for humans, not headlines. Approved lines (section B) are the only sanctioned phrasings.
- Some content sits outside the three-pillar system: **Culture** work (reactions, bad beats, memes, game noise) earns attention rather than making an argument. Culture is a Content tag in section D, not a pillar. It ladders to no P.

---

## B. Approved lines (verbatim)

Every ProphetX line, organised by job. Do NOT invent taglines, hero lines, or brand lines. Do NOT present generated alternatives as approved.

| Slot | Line | Where |
|---|---|---|
| **Hero** | **Same Moment. Bigger Payout.** | All paid / organic / brand. Leads everything. |
| **Identity — formal** | **America's First Sports-Native Prediction Market** | Press, boilerplate, partner decks, app store, regulatory, category-explaining awareness. |
| **Identity — category-fluent** | **The Order Book of Sports.** | Traders / high-end enthusiasts, trade media, sharp collabs, market-literate placements. |
| **Credibility anchor** | **Federally regulated. Live nationwide.** | Pillar-agnostic. Any asset, any campaign, wherever there's room. |
| **CTA — branded** | **Own your edge on ProphetX.** | Final voiceover, end card, script sign-off. |
| **CTA — functional** | **Trade Now.** | Buttons, end cards, app CTAs, performance retargeting. Never a headline. |

### What this restricts

Section B governs the fixed brand slots — hero, identity, credibility anchor, and the two CTAs. It applies to slogans, taglines, and any line occupying one of those slots on static creative, end frames or campaign assets. **Do not invent a line that replaces or imitates a slot in the table above.**

### What this does not restrict

Scripts, voice-over, hooks, narrative copy, dialogue, supporting body copy and captions are written to brief. The approved lines inform their tone and argument; they do not limit them. Vocabulary rules, hard bans and pillar tone still apply to every word.

### Flexibility on approved lines

Approved lines may be trimmed or extended to suit a surface — **"Own your edge."** and **"Own your edge on ProphetX."** are interchangeable. The line's substance is fixed; its exact length is not.

### Retired for customer-facing use — internal reference only

- **"We know sports."** — internal shorthand for the P2 Sports argument (what the brand is *about*, not what it *says*). Fine in internal briefs, sharp-community context, or in messaging documentation as a way to name the pillar. **Never** as a customer-facing line — no ads, no hero copy, no partner-facing creative, no end frames.

### Active offer (DATED — verify before use)

- **Trade $10, Get $20.** — Once a promo expires, do NOT surface it.
- **Verification pointer.** Before rendering any offer line in AI-generated work, check the current Marketing Lines section of the brand book at `https://homebase.prophetx.info/docs/brand-book.html#msg-lines` (or the deployed equivalent). If the offer above does not appear there, or the version reads differently, **omit the offer entirely** and note the omission in delivery. Never invent or extrapolate offer values.

### CFTC disclaimer — required text (paid marketing)

Paid marketing surfaces (paid social, CTV, digital display, OOH with a call to action, sponsored partnerships, performance retargeting) MUST carry the CFTC-required risk disclaimer. Use this text verbatim:

> Trading sports event contracts involves substantial risk of loss and is not appropriate for all investors. Past results are not necessarily indicative of future results. You should consider whether trading is appropriate for you in light of your financial circumstances. ProphetX is a CFTC-regulated designated contract market. Full risk disclosure available at prophetx.co/risk.

**Placement:** Directly on the surface — end frame for video, footer for static, dedicated slate for CTV, footer line for OOH with CTA. Never a separate document.

**Small-format carve-out.** Standard surfaces where the full text fits (720p+ video, ≥300×250 static, ≥970×90 leaderboard) must use the verbatim text above. **On small-format placements where the full text is physically impossible to render legibly** (small display units like 728×90, 320×50, 300×50; short-form audio spots under 15 seconds; text-only SMS/MMS), use the short form:

> Trading involves risk of loss. Sports event contracts on a CFTC-regulated exchange. Full risk disclosure at prophetx.co/risk.

The full text is the default. Reach for the short form only when the constraint is real, not for convenience.

**Never omit the disclaimer** and never leave a placeholder like `[disclaimer]` or `[CFTC]` in delivered work. A missing disclaimer reads as finished work and is worse than a visibly missing element like an unrendered logo.

---

## C. Voice & vocabulary

### Voice
Precise and data-driven. Confident without swagger — the product does the talking. Written from the trader's point of view, not the platform's. Sports-obsessed. Celebratory when someone wins — the win should feel earned. Elevated but not alienating. Decisive on CTAs.

### Never sound like
Hyped, loud, or desperate. Gambling-coded. Corporate or over-lawyered. Busy — negative space is doing work. Corny or juvenile. Weak on CTAs — never "Learn More," never "Click Here."

### Word swaps

| Instead of | Say | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Bet, wager | **Trade** | What actually happens on an exchange |
| The team someone bet on | **Position** | What a trader holds |
| American odds (+200 / -150 / -110) | **Percentages** (implied probability) | The exchange price format. Sportsbook shorthand not welcome; percentages are what the product shows. |

### Hard bans

| Category | Never use |
|---|---|
| Gambling-coded | Lucky, jackpot, gamble, win big |
| **Vig / no-vig — HARD BAN** | Vig, no-vig, no vig. Gives brand awareness to a direct competitor (Novig). Say "keep more," "better prices," or "no house cut." |
| **American odds — HARD BAN** | +200 / -150 / -110 format. Too sportsbook-adjacent, and the product is percentages-only per CFTC guidelines. Use percentages / implied probability. Decimal and fractional odds are also out. See § below. |
| Verbs | Wager, wagering, play / playing as a verb |
| Absolutes | Guaranteed, risk-free, lock, sure thing |
| Contextual | Sportsbook (in hero copy) |
| Commercial | Any specific fee or commission percentage |

### Approved vocabulary
Trade · trading · position · price · **percentages** · **implied probability** · odds (as a general word) · house cut · prediction market · event contract · lay · fade · edge · market · straights · moneylines · spreads · parlays.

### Bet, wager, gambling — full ban

"Bet," "wager," and gambling-coded language are banned in every channel without exception. No A/B carve-out, no paid-social carve-out. The default and only word is **trade**. This applies to product UI, PR, decks, regulatory copy, partner and influencer creative, paid social, CTV, and every downstream surface an AI system might generate for ProphetX.

### Cash Out — product-UI naming exception

The product UI reads **Cash Out** because that's the phrase users search for. Everywhere else — brand copy, marketing creative, decks, PR — say **trade out of your position**. A sportsbook's cash-out is the house quoting a buyback with margin inside the offer; ours is trading out at the market's price. Using their word for our better mechanism concedes the argument. This is a per-feature exception, not a general allowance for gambling-adjacent product terms.

### American odds — hard ban

The +200 / -150 / -110 format has no place in ProphetX text, content, or creative. Two reasons:

1. **Sportsbook-adjacent.** American odds are sportsbook shorthand. Using them concedes the category we're arguing against.
2. **The product is percentages-only per CFTC guidelines.** Prices on the exchange are expressed as implied probabilities. Brand and marketing copy match the product.

If a piece needs to describe a price, use the percentage. *"Player X at 62% to score"* — not *"Player X at -164."* Decimal odds (1.61) and fractional odds (5/8) are similarly out for the same reasons. If a piece would read more naturally with a comparison to a sportsbook price, convert the sportsbook line to its implied percentage too — never lay the two side-by-side in the +/- format. This applies to every surface: paid, organic, PR, decks, partner creative, script sign-offs, product marketing, everything.

### Availability
Default to **nationwide** in brand copy. Listing specific states is fine when the work is targeted at those states (paid geos, state-launch creative, local partnerships). Hard ban: **never say "all 50 states."** Some states drop offline due to prediction-market litigation; the claim ages badly the moment a state goes dark.

---

## D. Content — tag every asset

Four tags. Tag by tag, not by format.

| Tag | Covers | Against |
|---|---|---|
| **Payout** | You make more here | Sportsbooks |
| **Sports** | Built for sports fans | Generalist prediction markets |
| **Trust** | Legal, regulated, nationwide | Not knowing we exist |
| **Culture** | Reactions, bad beats, memes, game noise | Nobody |

### Campaigns (internal names)

| Tag | Campaigns |
|---|---|
| Payout | Same Moment. Bigger Payout. · Sportsbooks Are Criminals · Price Check · Payout Math |
| Sports | First Sports-Native Prediction Market · Edge & Education · Market Depth |
| Trust | *[placeholder]* · Nationwide |
| Culture | Trading Culture · Sports Fandom · Bad Beats & Win Moments |

### The only language rules that matter (creator page)

| Say | Never |
|---|---|
| **Trade** — not bet or wager | Bet · wager · play |
| **Position** — the side you hold | Vig · no-vig |
| **Price** — the exchange word | Lucky · jackpot · gamble · win big |
| **Percentages** — the format for our prices | American odds (+200 / -150) · decimal · fractional |
| **House cut** — never vig | Lock · guaranteed · sure thing |
| **Edge** · market · event contract | Any specific fee or commission |

Parlays are fine to say (with straights, moneylines, spreads). *Moneylines* is the market type; the odds format for it is percentages, never American odds.

When a piece needs a trust line, use **Federally regulated. Live nationwide.**

---

## E. Features — current promotable set (August 2026)

Dated by design. Features graduate to evergreen value props when they're simply how the product works.

### Parlay Builder — *new*
Combines several predictions into a single trade. Pull picks from different games / sports on one screen. Pillar: Payout, with Sports behind it.

### Cash Out — *coming soon*
Will close a position (or part) before the event finishes. Selling to another trader at the market's price, not accepting a house buyback. Pillar: Payout, with Sports behind it. **Naming rule:** product says "Cash Out"; brand / marketing copy says "trade out of your position." **Not yet live** — don't imply it's shippable today.

### Order Book — *new*
Shows every price other traders are willing to accept and how much they want at each one. Pillar: Payout + Sports equally.

### Futures — *restored*
Season-long positions on team or player performance, tradeable in and out across the whole season. Pillar: Sports, with Payout behind it.

### Payment Methods — *coming soon*
Aera Pay live now; the expanded PayNearMe set (debit / credit / bank / Apple Pay / Google Pay / PayPal / Venmo / Cash App / retail cash) is roadmap, not shipped. **Never** promote the expanded set as available. Say "Aera Pay today, wider set on the way" or omit specifics entirely. When methods start rolling out, name only what's live at the time of writing. Pillar: Trust.

---

## G. Competitor angles

Competitors are named here and NOWHERE else in output. Everywhere else say "sportsbooks" or "generalist prediction markets."

Lead angle vs. sportsbooks: **You vs. The House.** A sportsbook profits when the user loses; ProphetX has no house position.

| Competitor | Their weakness | Our angle | Pillar |
|---|---|---|---|
| DraftKings | House cut on every win; model needs users to lose | You vs. the house. Imply in paid, name in organic. Show the math. | P1 |
| FanDuel | Same model, unfavorable long-run pricing | You vs. the house, plus side-by-side payout comparison. | P1 |
| BetMGM | Vegas DNA, house-always-wins already baked in | Built for the house. We're built for you. | P1 |
| Novig | Similar claims, thinner product | **Never** use "vig" or "no vig" in any context. Lead on depth, community, product quality. | P1 · P2 |
| Kalshi | Generalist, not sports-first | Built for elections. We're built for sports. Match their regulated-trust framing rather than ceding it. | P2 · P3 |
| Polymarket | Crypto-adjacent, not sports-focused | Sharp, sports-first, for fans. US-regulated is the tiebreaker. | P2 · P3 |

**Guidance:** Competitor names aren't the heart of the message — the category term ("sportsbooks," "generalist prediction markets") is the default, and it keeps the argument about us rather than about them. Name a specific competitor when the direct comparison is the point: a payout gap you can show, a rule or move that's the news, a claim with receipts. When you do name one, name it once and let the number or the moment do the work. Never in hero copy; sparingly elsewhere. Organic social is where naming is most natural; paid usually reads stronger with implication.

---

## H. Craft standard

Whatever the medium — video, static, voice-over, editorial, live event — the work has to clear this bar. Framing the standard as *what the work looks like*, not *how it was made*.

### Lean into
Cinematic scale · visual precision · environments impossible or unaffordable to shoot. Stadium sequences that couldn't exist · abstract visualisations of market movement · hyper-stylised win moments.

### Avoid
Generic stock sports imagery · lo-fi filler that reads as churn · anything that undercuts the production standard.

### Never
- Approximate the logo — always place the approved file.
- Default to gambling-coded language — sweep every output for it.

### Avoid (but not absolute)
- **Motorsport as a visual motif in consumer creative** — racing cars, checkered flags, pit lane, cockpit shots. F1 is a tone reference, not a costume; leaning on the visual language turns it into on-the-nose theming.
- **F1 leading consumer-facing hero copy.** Considered mentions in editorial, partner content, or brand storytelling are fine when the comparison is real (production standard, technical audience, seriousness the sport is treated with).

### Pre-deployment checklist
- [ ] Does it ladder to one of the three pillars?
- [ ] Does every brand line come from section B, with nothing invented?
- [ ] Does it use approved vocabulary — trade, not bet or wager?
- [ ] Free of vig · fee · commission language?
- [ ] Availability defaults to nationwide (state lists OK for state-targeted work); no "all 50 states"?
- [ ] Does it carry the credibility anchor where there's room?
- [ ] Is the approved logo placed rather than generated?
- [ ] Is the tone precise and confident rather than hyped?
- [ ] Would a sharp trader find it credible?

---

## I. What changed from v1.2

- **Pillars:** 4 → 3 (Availability folded into P3 · Regulated Access).
- **Lines:** Consolidated to an approved-lines table. **Every** approved line lives in section B.
- **Hooks removed:** Per-pillar sample copy in v1.2 was mistaken as sanctioned. Every approved line now lives in section B only.
- **Voice:** Explicit vig hard ban. Cash Out product-UI naming exception (see § C). "Bet / wager / gambling" full ban across every channel — no A/B carve-out. States rule softened to allow targeted state lists; hard ban stays on "all 50 states."
- **Content:** 6 pillars → 4 tags. 46 nested format slots → 27.
- **Features:** New section. Dated set with defined path into evergreen props.
- **Competitors:** Named in section G only.
- **AI contexts:** Split into three files — this messaging-only file plus scoped `-marketing.md` and `-corporate.md` files. Freelancers pick the one that matches their surface. The messaging block is byte-identical across all three.

---

## J. Cross-references

- Human-facing full messaging: [`prophetx-brand-messaging-v2.md`](./prophetx-brand-messaging-v2.md)
- Brand book UI: `/prototype/docs/brand-book.html` — messaging sections `sec-msg-overview` through `sec-msg-content`.
- Design tokens: `/prototype/tokens/tokens.css`.
- Scoped AI contexts: `prophetx-ai-context-marketing.md`, `prophetx-ai-context-corporate.md`.
- Superseded: v1.2 (Q2 2026) messaging — kept in git history but no longer authoritative.

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*ProphetX AI Context · Messaging · v2.1 · August 2026 · jeff.donaldson@prophetexchange.com*