# Building a StoryBrand *By Donald Miller. Subtitle: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen. New York: HarperCollins Leadership, 10 October 2017. Hardcover ISBN 0-7180-3332-9 / 978-0-7180-3332-3. A business book that turns a seven-part story structure (the "SB7 Framework") into a messaging template for websites, sales copy and company culture. Revised and expanded in 2025 as* Building a StoryBrand 2.0*, which is now the edition the publisher sells.* > **What I actually read.** The book is in copyright (© 2017 Donald Miller) and I did not read the full text. The **table of contents** comes from the Library of Congress copy-cataloging contents note (as carried in BYU's MARC record) and the San Francisco Public Library record, with **start pages** from the contents page as excerpted by AbeBooks (through chapter 3). I checked the structure and the wording quoted below against Open Library's public "search inside" over an Internet Archive scan of the 2017 HarperCollins Leadership printing ([`buildingbrandguat`](https://archive.org/details/buildingbrandguat), scanned for the Universidad Francisco Marroquín library; the scan itself is not viewable or borrowable). Search inside returns short OCR snippets with running heads and printed page numbers. Quotations here are limited to phrases I saw in those snippets, and they are marked as such. Page numbers are given only where a contents line or printed page number appeared next to the text; the rest are left out rather than guessed. Related in this vault: the source video note [[Video Summaries/Jennie Lakenan/The New Era of Web Design Has Just Begun]]. The same video produced the queued (now on hold) *Your Child's Constellation of Gifts* by Karen Summerville, which is not yet published. ## 1. Book facts | | | |---|---| | Title | *Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen* (variant title in catalogs: *Building a Story Brand*) | | Author | Donald Miller (born 12 August 1971), founder and CEO of StoryBrand | | First edition | [New York]: HarperCollins Leadership, an imprint of HarperCollins, [2017]; © 2017. x + 228 pages, illustrations, 22 cm; "Includes bibliographical references" (notes). LCCN [2017937432](https://lccn.loc.gov/2017937432); OCLC 1005351979; LC class HF5415.1255 .M5473 2017; Dewey 658.8/02 ([BYU MARC record](https://apps.lib.byu.edu/marcrecord/bib/7030621)) | | ISBNs | Hardcover 0718033329 / 9780718033323; ebook 0718033337 / 9780718033330; international edition 1400201837 / 9781400201839 (same MARC record). Audio CD, Brilliance Audio for HarperCollins Leadership, 9781536693164; MP3 CD 9781536693171 ([Open Library](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL19347277W)) | | Publication date | 10 October 2017 ([Google Books](https://books.google.com/books/about/Building_a_StoryBrand.html?id=b3xDDgAAQBAJ); [NetGalley](https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/200667), $26.99 list) | | Structure | Introduction; three sections; 13 chapters; "The StoryBrand Marketing Roadmap"; notes (section 5) | | Audiobook | Unabridged, read by the author; HarperCollins Leadership, 10 October 2017; 4 h 56 min (per search-result listings of Amazon/Audible; the Audible page itself returned an error to my checks) | | Revised edition | *Building a StoryBrand 2.0*, HarperCollins Leadership, 7 January 2025, hardcover 9781400251308 (304 pp. per Open Library), ebook 9781400248872; adds a note from the author, a chapter "Define Your Controlling Idea", and a rewritten Section 3, "Executing Your StoryBrand Messaging and Marketing Campaign" ([Business Wire release](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241121631078/en/Bestselling-Author-Donald-Miller-to-Release-Building-a-StoryBrand-2.0-With-HarperCollins-Leadership-on-January-7-2025); [SFPL contents](https://link.sfpl.org/resource/WK_OYbLV89g)) | | Translations seen | German *Story Brand: Wie Sie mit starken Geschichten Ihre Kunden überzeugen* (listed on Hoopla); others not checked | | Open Library | Three work records: [OL17883121W](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17883121W) (hardcover, [OL26462554M](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL26462554M)), [OL19347277W](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL19347277W) (ebook, international edition, audio), [OL34947893W](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL34947893W) (the IA scan, [OL58611671M](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL58611671M)) | | Cover | [Open Library cover 8193589](https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/8193589-L.jpg) | **Where it came up.** - Video: [The New Era of Web Design Has Just Begun](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=490s), *Jennie Lakenan*, published 2026-11-03, at **8:10**. Lakenan, a StoryBrand Certified Guide, describes StoryBrand as a messaging framework in which "the customer is the hero and the business is the guide" (paraphrase in the vault note), then walks through a BrandScript for a wedding-veil client, with the word "basic" cast as the villain (9:18). - The book is **not named on air**. Video Summaries attached it as the framework's source; the identification is an inference, though a safe one, since the book is the framework's canonical statement. - Requested by Video Summaries on 2026-11-04. - Vault note: [[Video Summaries/Jennie Lakenan/The New Era of Web Design Has Just Begun]]. ## 2. Book resources **Reference and catalog pages.** Publisher: [HarperCollins Leadership](https://www.harpercollinsleadership.com/books/building-a-storybrand/) (the 2017 book's URL now redirects to the *2.0* page); StoryBrand's own [book page](https://storybrand.com/building-a-storybrand-book-new/) (also *2.0*). Open Library: [work OL17883121W](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17883121W), [OL19347277W](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL19347277W), [hardcover edition OL26462554M](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL26462554M); [author OL2571373A](https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL2571373A). Google Books: [b3xDDgAAQBAJ](https://books.google.com/books/about/Building_a_StoryBrand.html?id=b3xDDgAAQBAJ). WorldCat: [OCLC 1005351979](https://search.worldcat.org/title/1005351979) (the site blocks scripted checks; the number comes from the MARC record). Library of Congress: [LCCN 2017937432](https://lccn.loc.gov/2017937432). **Free (legal).** - **No legal free full text.** The book is in copyright (2017). Project Gutenberg: not applicable. - **Internet Archive lending / Open Library borrow: no.** One scan exists ([`buildingbrandguat`](https://archive.org/details/buildingbrandguat), Universidad Francisco Marroquín, 2023), but it is access-restricted. Open Library's availability check reports it as "noview", so it cannot be borrowed. - **Not legal:** full-text PDFs of the 2017 book circulate on document-sharing sites. I am not linking them. - **Libby/OverDrive: yes, ebook and audiobook.** [Ebook (HarperCollins Leadership, 10 October 2017), OverDrive 3199754](https://www.overdrive.com/media/3199754); [audiobook read by the author, OverDrive 3199638](https://www.overdrive.com/media/3199638). The *2.0* audiobook is also listed ([OverDrive 10613037](https://www.overdrive.com/media/10613037)). Whether your library licenses them is a local question. - **Hoopla: the 2017 edition is not listed; *2.0* is.** Hoopla's [Donald Miller page](https://www.hoopladigital.com/artist/donald-miller/8596898) lists *Building a StoryBrand 2.0* as [ebook 16755475](https://www.hoopladigital.com/ebook/building-a-storybrand-20-donald-miller/16755475) and [audiobook 16752087](https://www.hoopladigital.com/audiobook/building-a-storybrand-20-donald-miller/16752087), but not the 2017 book. - **Free companion tool:** the book directs readers to build a BrandScript "for free at mystorybrand.com" (search-inside snippet). I did not check whether that offer still stands; *2.0* points to StoryBrand.ai instead. **Paid.** - **Amazon print.** [Hardcover, ISBN 0718033329](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0718033329) (HarperCollins Leadership, 10 October 2017; Amazon lists 240 pages). Used copies are cheap (AbeBooks listings from about US$4). - **Kindle.** Yes: [ASIN B06XFJ2JGR](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XFJ2JGR). - **Audible.** Yes: unabridged, read by Donald Miller, 4 h 56 min, ASIN [B072J8WRND](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072J8WRND) (Amazon's audiobook page; the Audible page did not load for me). *2.0* audiobook: [Audible B0CZ59BB9B](https://www.audible.com/pd/Building-a-StoryBrand-20-Audiobook/B0CZ59BB9B) (not opened). - **Edition note.** New copies are increasingly *2.0* (2025). The seven-part framework and Sections 1–2 carry over; Section 3 differs (section 5). ## 3. Author biography **Donald "Don" Miller** was born on 12 August 1971 and grew up in Texas; Wikipedia says that at 21 he left his home in Pearland, Texas, for Portland, Oregon ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Miller_(author))). He grew up without a father, the subject of *To Own a Dragon* (2006; expanded as *Father Fiction*, 2010). His first book was *Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance* (Harvest House, 2000; republished as *Through Painted Deserts*, 2005). *Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality* (Thomas Nelson, 2003) made him a *New York Times* bestselling author and a leading voice among younger evangelicals. *Christianity Today* reported in 2008 that it had sold more than a million copies ([CT, 22 August 2008](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2008/08/donald-miller-to-give-dnc-benediction/)). A film adaptation directed by Steve Taylor came out in 2012 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Like_Jazz_(film))). Other books from that period: *Searching for God Knows What* (2004), *A Million Miles in a Thousand Years* (2009), *Storyline* (2012) and *Scary Close* (2015). In 2008 he founded The Mentoring Project, a nonprofit that pairs fatherless boys with mentors through churches ([Leaders.com profile](https://leaders.com/rankings/person/donald-miller/), a secondary source). On 25 August 2008 he gave the closing benediction on the first night of the Democratic National Convention, replacing Relevant's Cameron Strang. In that interview he described himself as a registered Democrat who had changed parties about five years earlier (CT, above; [CT video follow-up, 27 August 2008](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2008/08/video-donald-millers-wish-list/)). Wikipedia says he served in 2009 on a presidential advisory body on fatherhood and healthy families, citing the March 2010 report of the President's Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships. *A Million Miles in a Thousand Years* turned his interest in story structure into a "live a better story" theme. From that grew the **Storyline Conference**, a two-day life-planning workshop built on the elements of story. It sold out two years in Portland and expanded to Nashville in 2012 ([Belmont University news, 19 April 2012](https://news.belmont.edu/new-york-times-best-selling-author-donald-miller-brings-storyline-conference-to-belmont-university-may-6-7/)). He then applied the same structure to business messaging as **StoryBrand**, a Nashville workshop and consulting company. Its founding date is reported inconsistently. Miller's LinkedIn gives CEO of StoryBrand from April 2014, StoryBrand had a brochure online by February 2014 ([PDF](https://storybrand.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/StoryBrand.pdf)), and some secondary summaries say 2010. He married Elizabeth (Betsy) Miltenberger in November 2013, and they live in Nashville with their daughter Emmeline (Wikipedia; publisher author note via AbeBooks). *Building a StoryBrand* (2017) recast him as a business author. Later books, all from HarperCollins Leadership: *Marketing Made Simple* (17 March 2020, with Dr. J. J. Peterson), *Business Made Simple* (2021), *Hero on a Mission* (2022), *How to Grow Your Small Business* (14 March 2023), *Coach Builder* (12 March 2024) and *Building a StoryBrand 2.0* (2025). He is CEO of StoryBrand and Business Made Simple and hosts the company's podcasts (publisher author note). ## 4. Author interviews and talks - **Amy Porterfield, *Online Marketing Made Easy*, episode 236, "How to Clarify Your Message" (8 November 2018)**: [transcript](https://www.amyporterfield.com/transcript/236transcript/). Walks through the framework; uses Ramsey Solutions' "financial peace" as the example of one controlling idea. - **Pat Flynn, *Smart Passive Income*, SPI 393, "Got Story Brand?" (16 October 2019)**: [episode page with transcript](https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/podcasts/got-story-brand-an-interview-with-donald-miller/). The customer as hero, offering "one umbrella thing", and debt as Dave Ramsey's villain. - **James Taylor, *Creativity Leadership* CL164, "How to Clarify Your Message So People Will Listen"**: [episode page](https://www.jamestaylor.me/donald-miller/). The hero's journey, the "grunt test", and decision fatigue (from the timestamped show notes). - **Lifeway Leadership, *5 Leadership Questions*, episode 52 (5 January 2016)**: [episode page](https://leadership.lifeway.com/2016/01/05/episode-51-donald-miller/). A pre-book conversation about StoryBrand's work with companies. - **Lewis Howes, *The School of Greatness*, EP 1215 (2022)**: [episode listing](https://freespoke.com/podcasts/96536/your-life-is-a-story-why-you-should-write-your-own-eulogy-t). It is about *Hero on a Mission* and life as a story, the personal side of the same framework. - **John Lee Dumas, *Entrepreneurs on Fire***: [episode page](https://www.eofire.com/podcast/donaldmiller/) (returned 403 to my check; listed by search only). - **Christianity Today, posted 27 August 2008**: [video interview](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2008/08/video-donald-millers-wish-list/) recorded on the day of the DNC benediction (25 August). Pre-StoryBrand; it shows his public profile before the business turn. - **His own shows**: the *Building a StoryBrand* podcast (later the *Business Made Simple* podcast) and the Coach Builder YouTube channel (publisher author note). I did not pick out individual episodes. ## 5. Summary **Thesis.** Most marketing fails because it is confusing, not because the product is bad: "If you confuse, you'll lose" (StoryBrand's "mantra", per search-inside snippets). The human brain is wired for survival and conserves energy. It ignores information that does not help it survive and thrive, and it tunes out messages that make it "burn too many calories" to understand them (snippets). Story is the fix, because "Story helps because it is a sense-making mechanism" (snippet; Örman & Özcan-Arvidsson 2022 cite this passage to p. 6). Miller condenses film and novel structure into seven elements: *a character, has a problem, and meets a guide, who gives them a plan, and calls them to action, that helps them avoid failure, and ends in a success*. A brand that casts the **customer as the hero and itself as the guide** and fills in those seven slots gets a clear message. That message is the one-page BrandScript, and it drives the website, emails, sales talk and even internal culture. **Outline (2017 HarperCollins Leadership; chapter titles from the LC/BYU contents note and the 2017 scan; start pages only where verified).** *Introduction (p. ix).* Not examined in snippets. *Section 1: Why Most Marketing Is a Money Pit.* - **Ch. 1, The Key to Being Seen, Heard, and Understood (p. 3).** "Most companies waste enormous amounts of money on marketing" (snippet). Two mistakes: failing to say how the offer helps the customer survive and thrive, and making customers work too hard to understand it. The brain filters for survival and conserves calories. - **Ch. 2, The Secret Weapon That Will Grow Your Business (p. 15).** Story as the "secret weapon". Formulas help the brain process, like music or a well-structured speech. Miller lays out the seven-element formula filmmakers use and notes that indie films "break from the formula" (snippet). - **Ch. 3, The Simple SB7 Framework (p. 29).** A preview of the seven elements and how the book will build them into a BrandScript. The **grunt test** ("At StoryBrand we call this passing the grunt test", snippet) asks whether a caveman could look at your homepage and immediately grunt what you offer, how it makes life better, and what to do to buy it. The grunt-test wording beyond the snippet comes from interviews and summaries, not the scan. *Section 2: Building Your StoryBrand.* Each chapter opens with a numbered "StoryBrand Principle" (wording from snippets) and ends with instructions for filling in that part of the BrandScript. - **Ch. 4, A Character.** *Principle One: "The customer is the hero, not your brand."* Define one simple thing the customer wants, tied to survival, and open a "story gap" between hero and desire. The example is a resort whose new copy read "Find the luxury and rest you've been looking for." - **Ch. 5, Has a Problem.** *Principle Two: companies "tend to sell solutions to external problems, but customers buy solutions to internal problems."* The villain is the root cause of the problem. There are three levels of problem: external, internal and philosophical ("In stories, heroes encounter external, internal, and philosophical problems", snippet). Examples from film run from Katniss Everdeen to "Batman without the Joker", and the brand examples include Tesla. - **Ch. 6, And Meets a Guide.** *Principle Three: "Customers aren't looking for another hero; they're looking for a guide."* A guide shows **empathy** and **authority**. Authority comes through testimonials, statistics, awards and logos, and the book warns against bragging; that detail is from standard summaries and was not seen line by line. - **Ch. 7, Who Gives Them a Plan.** *Principle Four: "Customers trust a guide who has a plan."* A **process plan** gives the steps to buy or use the product. An **agreement plan** gives promises that relieve fears; One example is CarMax's answer to buyers' fears of haggling or being "stuck with a lemon" (snippet). - **Ch. 8, And Calls Them to Action.** *Principle Five: "Customers do not take action unless they are challenged to take action."* Use a **direct call to action** ("Buy Now", placed prominently) and a **transitional call to action**, a free resource that builds the relationship. The snippets show the term and a client whose second-year growth he credits to it. - **Ch. 9, That Helps Them Avoid Failure (p. 107).** *Principle Six: "Every human being is trying to avoid a tragic ending."* Name the stakes, using a four-step fear appeal: alert the customer to a threat, say they should act, offer a specific action, and challenge them to take it. The book's illustrative line is "Nearly 30 percent of all homes have evidence of termite infestation" (snippet). Allstate's mayhem-versus-stability advertising is an example (snippet). - **Ch. 10, And Ends in a Success.** *Principle Seven: "Never assume people understand how your brand can change their lives. Tell them."* Stories resolve in three ways, which Miller maps to customers: winning status or power, union with something that makes them whole, and self-realization. This list follows the Örman & Özcan-Arvidsson summary; I did not confirm the wording in snippets. - **Ch. 11, People Want Your Brand to Participate in Their Transformation.** Characters change. Brands should name the **aspirational identity** the customer wants, moving "from" one state "to" another. One example is Gerber's "Hello Trouble" campaign, cited in the notes to a Vimeo upload (snippet). Standard summaries add a "from–to" table; it is not confirmed here. *Section 3: Implementing Your StoryBrand BrandScript.* - **Ch. 12, Building a Better Website.** The website as "the first impression" and "the equivalent of an elevator pitch" (snippets). An obvious "Buy Now" button: "Let's not hide it" (snippet), with direct calls to action in "two main places" (snippet). Standard summaries list five things a site needs: a clear offer above the fold, obvious calls to action, images of success, a broken-down revenue stream, and few words. Only the call-to-action points are confirmed here. - **Ch. 13, Using StoryBrand to Transform Company Culture.** The "**Narrative Void**", "a vacant space that occurs inside" an organization without a clear story (snippet). It breeds disengagement. The chapter cites Gallup's employee-engagement measurement, begun "in the 1990s" (snippet), and argues for using the BrandScript to give staff a shared mission. Lewis and Clark appear as an example of a team with a clear plot (snippet). *The StoryBrand Marketing Roadmap*, "Five (almost free) things you can do to implement" the framework (snippet), headed by numbered tasks (snippets): 1. Create a one-liner for your company. 2. Create a lead generator and collect e-mail addresses. 3. Create an automated e-mail drip campaign. 4. Collect and tell stories of transformation. 5. Create a system that generates referrals. *Back matter.* Notes, chapter by chapter; e.g., chapter 11 note 1 cites the "Hello Trouble" Vimeo video (snippet). Other back matter (acknowledgments, about the author) was not checked. ***2.0* (2025) differences, from catalog contents only.** Front matter adds "Want your entire team to understand the StoryBrand framework?" and "Note from the author on this updated edition". Section 2 adds "Define Your Controlling Idea". Section 3 is retitled "Executing Your StoryBrand Messaging and Marketing Campaign" and has three chapters: "How to Execute a Flawless StoryBrand", "How to Get Your Website Right", and "How to Execute a StoryBrand Messaging and Marketing Campaign". It ends with an afterword, "Praise for the StoryBrand framework" and "StoryBrand resources" ([SFPL record](https://link.sfpl.org/resource/WK_OYbLV89g)). **Key ideas.** - **Clarity beats cleverness.** If the brain has to work to understand an offer, it moves on. - **The customer is the hero; the brand is the guide.** Brands that tell their own story compete with the customer for the hero's role. - **Sell to the internal problem.** People buy relief from frustration, doubt or embarrassment more than the fix for the external problem. A philosophical "should" ("pets deserve healthy food too", per the thesis summary) adds weight. - **A guide earns trust with empathy plus authority, then gives a plan.** Plans cut perceived risk. - **Two calls to action.** A direct one for buyers who are ready, and a transitional one (a free resource) for everyone else. - **Stakes and resolution.** Say what failure costs and what success looks like; never assume the customer can infer it. - **The BrandScript as the single source.** One page feeds the one-liner, the website wireframe, lead generators, email sequences and internal talking points. - **The link to the source video.** Lakenan's veil-client BrandScript follows chapters 4–6 directly: the bride as hero, the shop as guide, and an abstract villain ("basic"). The book allows a villain that is not a person, as long as it is the root cause of the problem. **Reception, in brief.** The book was a commercial success. It reached No. 7 on the *Wall Street Journal* nonfiction e-book list for the week ended 25 November 2018 ([list as syndicated](https://kitchener.citynews.ca/2018/11/29/wall-street-journal-best-sellers-2/)), and the publisher claimed more than a million copies sold by late 2024 (Business Wire). StoryBrand runs a "Certified Guide" program; Lakenan is one. Practitioners' criticisms are that it suits simple, single-offer businesses better than complex B2B or multi-segment brands, and that its customer assumptions often go unvalidated by research ([Medium critique](https://medium.com/@whatkayladoes/why-i-dont-use-the-storybrand-method-with-my-clients-ee2d26fb066d); [Michelle Mazur](https://drmichellemazur.com/2024/07/4-reasons-the-storybrand-framework-didnt-work-for-your-business/); [YDOP](https://www.ydop.com/articles/storybrand-issues-online-marketing/); none read in full). The book itself offers case anecdotes, not controlled evidence (section 6). ## 6. Fact-check Overall verdict: **mixed**. The bibliographic and structural facts are solid. The brain and "calories" rationale is a loose metaphor. The general idea that narrative persuades has research support. The specific claim that the SB7 template outperforms other copy has almost no independent testing, and the one small test I found did not support it. | Claim | Verdict | Evidence | |---|---|---| | Published by HarperCollins Leadership on 10 October 2017; hardcover ISBN 9780718033323 | Supported | [BYU MARC record](https://apps.lib.byu.edu/marcrecord/bib/7030621) (LCCN 2017937432, OCLC 1005351979); [Google Books](https://books.google.com/books/about/Building_a_StoryBrand.html?id=b3xDDgAAQBAJ); [NetGalley](https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/200667) | | Three sections, 13 chapters plus a Marketing Roadmap, titles as in section 5 | Supported | LC contents note (BYU MARC); [SFPL record](https://link.sfpl.org/resource/WK_OYbLV89g) (section names); IA scan contents and running heads via Open Library search inside | | The video's StoryBrand (8:10) comes from this book | Supported (inference) | The framework, the customer-as-hero and brand-as-guide roles, and the villain device are those of chs. 4–6. The book is not named on air (vault note) | | The brain spends calories to process information, so confusing messages get ignored to save energy | Disputed / metaphor | The brain uses about 20% of the body's energy at about 2% of its mass, but task-related changes in its energy use are small relative to that baseline ([Raichle & Gusnard 2002, PNAS](https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.172399499); [PubMed 12149485](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12149485/)). Processing ease does shape attention and liking, but "burning calories" is not the mechanism | | Stories persuade better than plain arguments | Supported (general) | Meta-analysis of narrative transportation: 132 effect sizes from 76 studies ([van Laer et al. 2014, *JCR*](https://doi.org/10.1086/673383); [open-access copy](https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/6755/)) | | Applying the seven SB7 elements improves ad response | Unverified / weakly tested | Only one test found: a Stockholm School of Economics bachelor thesis (n = 123, a Swedish toothpaste ad). The story-element version (elements 1–3) did *not* raise purchase intent, ease of processing or memorability, and scored *lower* on interest and brand distinctiveness than the plan/CTA/stakes version (elements 4–7) ([Örman & Özcan-Arvidsson 2022](http://arc.hhs.se/download.aspx?MediumId=5580)). It is small and low-involvement; the authors caution against generalizing | | "Customers buy solutions to internal problems" | Unverified (heuristic) | Stated as a principle with anecdotes. I found no direct test | | A free transitional CTA (lead magnet) raises response | Supported (related research) | The direct-mail literature the thesis reviews finds that non-monetary, utilitarian incentives raise response (e.g. Vafainia et al. 2019, *Journal of Interactive Marketing* 45) | | "Nearly 30 percent of all homes have evidence of termite infestation" | Unverified (illustrative copy) | Given as a sample fear-appeal line, not sourced in the snippet. No industry figure checked | | Gallup began measuring employee engagement in the 1990s | Supported | Gallup says the Q12 was developed in the 1990s and finalized in 1998 ([Gallup Q12 meta-analysis](https://www.gallup.com/workplace/321725/gallup-q12-meta-analysis-report.aspx)) | | "StoryBrand" as a term and story-based branding are Miller's invention | Disputed | Jim Signorelli's *StoryBranding: Creating Standout Brands Through the Power of Story* (Greenleaf, 2012; *StoryBranding 2.0*, 2014) used the term first ([Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12617839-storybranding)). The SB7 structure is Miller's own synthesis | | Wall Street Journal bestseller | Supported | No. 7, WSJ nonfiction e-books, week ended 25 November 2018 ([syndicated list](https://kitchener.citynews.ca/2018/11/29/wall-street-journal-best-sellers-2/)) | | More than one million copies sold | Unverified (publisher claim) | [Business Wire / HarperCollins Leadership, 21 November 2024](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241121631078/en/Bestselling-Author-Donald-Miller-to-Release-Building-a-StoryBrand-2.0-With-HarperCollins-Leadership-on-January-7-2025); no BookScan figure checked | | StoryBrand founded in 2014 (vs. 2010) | Disputed / inconsistent | LinkedIn: CEO from April 2014. A StoryBrand PDF was uploaded in February 2014. Some secondary summaries say 2010. Storyline (the life-planning predecessor) began in Portland about 2010–11 ([Belmont 2012](https://news.belmont.edu/new-york-times-best-selling-author-donald-miller-brings-storyline-conference-to-belmont-university-may-6-7/)) | | Miller gave the 2008 DNC benediction | Supported | [Christianity Today, 22 August 2008](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2008/08/donald-miller-to-give-dnc-benediction/); [27 August follow-up](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2008/08/video-donald-millers-wish-list/) | | Born 12 August 1971 | Supported (single source) | [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Miller_(author)); LC authority heading "Miller, Donald, 1971-" (MARC) | ## 7. Citations and references **What the book draws on.** The notes are chapter by chapter. Sources I saw named or alluded to in snippets: - Film and fiction as models of story structure: *The Hunger Games* (Katniss and Haymitch on the StoryBrand grid), *Star Wars*, Batman, Harry Potter (ch. 5, snippets), and the Jason Bourne films (ch. 4, per a secondary summary). - Gallup's employee-engagement research, "in the 1990s" onward (ch. 13); see [Gallup Q12](https://www.gallup.com/workplace/321725/gallup-q12-meta-analysis-report.aspx). - The Gerber "Hello Trouble" advertising campaign, Vimeo video posted by Adam Long (ch. 11, note 1). - Brand cases: Tesla, CarMax, Allstate, Gerber, a high-end resort and other StoryBrand clients (snippets and secondary summaries); Ramsey Solutions in the interviews. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is invoked for the survival framing (per Örman & Özcan-Arvidsson's reading: [Maslow 1943](https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346)). - I could not get the full notes list from the scan. Claims in the book beyond those above are not traced here. **Related works.** Jim Signorelli, *StoryBranding* (2012/2014); Joseph Campbell, *The Hero with a Thousand Faces* (the hero's-journey tradition the framework simplifies); Robert McKee, *Story* (1997); Miller and J. J. Peterson, *Marketing Made Simple* (2020), a workbook companion that expands the Roadmap. **Links this note used:** - Catalogs and text: [BYU MARC record](https://apps.lib.byu.edu/marcrecord/bib/7030621); [SFPL record for *2.0*](https://link.sfpl.org/resource/WK_OYbLV89g); [LCCN 2017937432](https://lccn.loc.gov/2017937432); [WorldCat 1005351979](https://search.worldcat.org/title/1005351979); [Google Books b3xDDgAAQBAJ](https://books.google.com/books/about/Building_a_StoryBrand.html?id=b3xDDgAAQBAJ); [Open Library OL17883121W](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL17883121W); [OL19347277W](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL19347277W); [OL34947893W](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL34947893W); [OL26462554M](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL26462554M); [OL58611671M](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL58611671M); [author OL2571373A](https://openlibrary.org/authors/OL2571373A); [Open Library cover 8193589](https://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/8193589-L.jpg); [IA `buildingbrandguat`](https://archive.org/details/buildingbrandguat); [Open Library search inside](https://openlibrary.org/search/inside) (method); [AbeBooks listing with contents excerpt](https://www.abebooks.com/9780718033323/Building-StoryBrand-Clarify-Message-Customers-0718033329/plp); [NetGalley 200667](https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/200667); [NetGalley 472865 (*2.0*)](https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/472865). - Publisher and shops: [HarperCollins Leadership](https://www.harpercollinsleadership.com/books/building-a-storybrand/); [HarperCollins Leadership, *2.0*](https://www.harpercollinsleadership.com/books/building-a-storybrand-2-0/); [StoryBrand book page](https://storybrand.com/building-a-storybrand-book-new/); [Business Wire, 21 November 2024](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241121631078/en/Bestselling-Author-Donald-Miller-to-Release-Building-a-StoryBrand-2.0-With-HarperCollins-Leadership-on-January-7-2025); [Amazon hardcover](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0718033329); [Kindle B06XFJ2JGR](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XFJ2JGR); [Amazon audiobook B072J8WRND](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072J8WRND); [Audible *2.0* B0CZ59BB9B](https://www.audible.com/pd/Building-a-StoryBrand-20-Audiobook/B0CZ59BB9B); [OverDrive 3199754](https://www.overdrive.com/media/3199754); [OverDrive 3199638](https://www.overdrive.com/media/3199638); [OverDrive 10613037](https://www.overdrive.com/media/10613037); [Hoopla, Donald Miller](https://www.hoopladigital.com/artist/donald-miller/8596898); [Hoopla *2.0* ebook](https://www.hoopladigital.com/ebook/building-a-storybrand-20-donald-miller/16755475); [Hoopla *2.0* audiobook](https://www.hoopladigital.com/audiobook/building-a-storybrand-20-donald-miller/16752087). - Author: [Wikipedia, Donald Miller (author)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Miller_(author)); [Wikipedia, *Blue Like Jazz* (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Like_Jazz_(film)); [Leaders.com profile](https://leaders.com/rankings/person/donald-miller/); [Christianity Today, 22 August 2008](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2008/08/donald-miller-to-give-dnc-benediction/); [Christianity Today video, 27 August 2008](https://www.christianitytoday.com/2008/08/video-donald-millers-wish-list/); [Belmont University, 19 April 2012](https://news.belmont.edu/new-york-times-best-selling-author-donald-miller-brings-storyline-conference-to-belmont-university-may-6-7/); [StoryBrand brochure PDF, 2014](https://storybrand.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/StoryBrand.pdf). - Interviews: [Amy Porterfield 236](https://www.amyporterfield.com/transcript/236transcript/); [Smart Passive Income 393](https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/podcasts/got-story-brand-an-interview-with-donald-miller/); [James Taylor CL164](https://www.jamestaylor.me/donald-miller/); [Lifeway 5LQ](https://leadership.lifeway.com/2016/01/05/episode-51-donald-miller/); [School of Greatness EP 1215](https://freespoke.com/podcasts/96536/your-life-is-a-story-why-you-should-write-your-own-eulogy-t); [Entrepreneurs on Fire](https://www.eofire.com/podcast/donaldmiller/). - Evidence and critique: [Raichle & Gusnard 2002, PNAS](https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.172399499); [PubMed 12149485](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12149485/); [van Laer et al. 2014, DOI](https://doi.org/10.1086/673383); [City Research Online copy](https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/6755/); [Örman & Özcan-Arvidsson 2022 thesis](http://arc.hhs.se/download.aspx?MediumId=5580); [Gallup Q12 meta-analysis](https://www.gallup.com/workplace/321725/gallup-q12-meta-analysis-report.aspx); [Maslow 1943, DOI](https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346); [Signorelli, *StoryBranding*, Goodreads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12617839-storybranding); [WSJ list, 25 November 2018 (syndicated)](https://kitchener.citynews.ca/2018/11/29/wall-street-journal-best-sellers-2/); [Medium critique](https://medium.com/@whatkayladoes/why-i-dont-use-the-storybrand-method-with-my-clients-ee2d26fb066d); [Michelle Mazur](https://drmichellemazur.com/2024/07/4-reasons-the-storybrand-framework-didnt-work-for-your-business/); [YDOP](https://www.ydop.com/articles/storybrand-issues-online-marketing/). - Source video: [The New Era of Web Design Has Just Begun, 8:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqiY0LAPkSc&t=490s); [[Video Summaries/Jennie Lakenan/The New Era of Web Design Has Just Begun]].