StoryBrand Messaging Framework
Clarify your message so customers will listen. Customers don't buy the best products — they buy the ones they can understand the fastest.
Core Principle
The customer is the hero, not your brand. Your brand is the guide who helps the hero win. Position yourself as the hero and you compete with your customer; position yourself as the guide and you serve them.
Scoring
Goal: 10/10. Rate any marketing copy or brand messaging 0-10 against the principles below. Always state the current score and the specific changes needed to reach 10/10.
The SB7 Framework
Every compelling story follows the same pattern. Use this structure for all messaging:
1. A Character (The Hero)
Core concept: The customer is the hero, and your job is to define the ONE thing they want. Be specific about that single desire.
Why it works: Naming a desire opens a story gap — the distance between where the customer is and where they want to be. That tension pulls them in because they feel understood and want the gap closed.
Key insights:
- Focus on ONE desire per message — multiple desires dilute the story gap
- Tie the desire to survival (physical, financial, relational, or spiritual)
- Aspirational identity is powerful ("become the leader everyone respects")
- Different segments have different desires — write separate messaging per role, stage, and pain intensity
Product applications:
| Context |
Application |
Example |
| Homepage headline |
Desire as outcome |
"You want a beautiful smile" (not "our dentistry is excellent") |
| Landing page |
One desire per page |
"You want to retire early" |
| Segmentation |
Tailor desire per segment |
CEO: "Scale without chaos" vs. IC: "Do your best work without friction" |
Copy patterns:
- "You want [specific desire]..."
- "Imagine [aspirational identity]..."
- "What if you could [single clear outcome]?"
Ethical boundary: Ground desires in real research or observed behavior — never fabricate aspirations the customer does not hold.
See: references/brand-script.md for the complete BrandScript worksheet covering all seven elements.
2. Has a Problem
Core concept: Define the problem at three levels — external (tangible), internal (emotional), philosophical (the injustice) — and personify it with a specific villain.
Why it works: Companies sell solutions to external problems, but customers buy solutions to internal ones. Naming how the problem ma
