Brand type, explained.

Two mechanisms, one concept

Brand type answers one reporting question: was this click on a brand campaign or a non-brand campaign? Trakr implements it with two pieces that meet in the middle:

1. The brand type field lives in your syntax, and Trakr derives classification from wherever you place it: any standard parameter or a custom one. utm_campaign and utm_content stay the recommended home because they are the naming parameters, the free-text dimensions where a brand marker reads naturally and that GA4's own channel group rules can read back. Its type is Channel-Linked and its value is always brand or non-brand. You never type into it on a parameter step.
2. Each channel's brand behavior (set on the Channel Definitions step) decides that value for every URL built through the channel.

The three brand behaviors

Behavior	What the builder shows	Typical channels
Brand	A locked chip reading "brand, locked by channel". No input needed.	Paid Search, Brand
Non-brand	A locked chip reading "non-brand, locked by channel".	Paid Search, Non-Brand; Display
User decides	A brand / non-brand toggle on the Channel step of the builder.	Paid Social, Email, channels that run both kinds of campaigns

In bulk mode the same logic applies per row: rows for forced channels carry the locked chip; rows for user-decided channels get the toggle, defaulting to non-brand.

Where the value lands

Wherever the brand type field sits in your syntax. With utm_content = funnel_creative_brandType and _ as the separator, a brand click emits ...&utm_content=awareness_video_brand. Downstream, that token is what your GA4 custom dimensions or channel grouping rules can key on.

Classification is derived, no rules to write

Trakr knows exactly where your brand type field sits: which parameter, which position, which separator. So a custom channel with Brand Logic set to Force Brand or Force Non-Brand classifies URLs automatically by comparing that exact position of the generated value. The channel card shows what it derived, and the line updates itself if you ever move the field. The comparison is exact by design: brand is contained in non-brand, so anything looser would misclassify every non-brand URL.

If a brand-classifying channel exists but your syntax has no brand type field yet, the card says so and the channel stays out of channel prediction until you add one; it never guesses.

The GA4 side: one rule to copy

Trakr's own prediction handles your preview and history. Your GA4 property still needs its custom channel group rule, so the channel card offers Copy the GA4 rule: the exact position-anchored pattern for your current syntax, for example ^([^_]*_){2}brand(_.*)?$ for a brand token in position 3. It is written to match the entire value, so it works whether GA4 evaluates the rule as a full or a partial match, and it uses no regex features GA4's engine lacks. When your syntax changes, copy it again; the pattern follows the field.

Why the dropdown option is greyed out

In the field type dropdown, Channel-Linked (Brand) is disabled on every other field once one channel-linked field exists. One configuration gets exactly one channel-linked field; the flow validator enforces it. This is protection: two fields bound to the same channel selection would fight over one value.

Setting it up from zero

1. In the syntax builder, give a field the Channel-Linked (Brand) type, or use the brandType field a template ships. Place it in a parameter structure, typically utm_content.
2. On the Channel Definitions step, set each channel's brand behavior: brand, non-brand, or user decides.
3. Build a URL. Forced channels show the locked chip; user-decided channels show the toggle. The emitted value follows your choice.

Brand behavior is not a rule

Channels also carry campaign and content rules (contains and regex checks). Those validate the final parameter values; they do not set the brand type. If a rule looks like it references brand, it is checking your output for compliance. The brand behavior setting alone decides what the brand type field emits.

Common questions

Where do I switch a URL between brand and non-brand?

On the Channel step of the builder, and only when the chosen channel's brand behavior is set to user decides. Channels forced to brand or non-brand show a locked chip instead of a toggle.

Why can I not type into the brand type field?

It is a Channel-Linked field: its value is bound to the channel selection, never to direct input. That is the point, one place decides the value and typos are impossible.

Can I have two channel-linked fields?

No. One per configuration, enforced by the flow validator. The option is greyed out in every other field's type dropdown once one exists.

A template gave me brand and non-brand versions of the same channel. Why?

Splitting a channel into two entries, each with a forced behavior, is the strictest setup: the URL builder then needs no toggle at all, and the choice is made by picking the channel itself. The single-channel plus user-decides setup trades that strictness for a shorter channel list.

I loaded a shared team configuration. Where was brand type set?

By whoever configured the workspace: the field placement in the syntax builder and each channel's brand behavior on the Channel Definitions step. As a team member you only ever see the locked chip or the toggle in the builder.