Go From Authentic Story to Powerful Brand with a Brand Identity Breakthrough


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Written by a guy who has traveled to over 35 countries, "Brand Identity Breakthrough: How to Craft Your Company's Unique Story to Make Your Products Irresistible" is a guide to tap into the power of your personal, authentic story and leveraging that story into a brand that will connect with your customer time and time again.

The book Brand Identity Breakthrough argues that using your unique story to build a powerful brand will help make your offerings seem irresistible.

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“Many people spend their lives never seeing the furthest extent of their potential because they never made the choice to break away…” — Brand Identity Breakthrough: How to Craft Your Company’s Unique Story to Make Your Products Irresistible

The key to better sales and marketing isn’t a “secret” or some new technical innovation. It’s your ability to uniquely and authentically share the story to a potential customer. In Brand Identity Breakthrough: How to Craft Your Company’s Unique Story to Make Your Products Irresistible, the focus is on how to channel that authentic story into a powerful brand.

What is Brand Identity Breakthrough About?

Brand Identity Breakthrough targets the disconnect business owners (especially new business owners) can have with their “brand”. As the author laments, it’s not uncommon for business owners to overly obsess over the tiniest of details (such as the font on the “About Us” page) while neglecting the bigger issue (the value your brand represents). Sure, obsessing over your brand’s appearance is important, but it means nothing if that brand can’t demonstrate value.

This value, which should be clearly planned from the beginning, is the start of your business’s story with your story. It communicates, within a few seconds, what your brand offers and the framework.

Think about it. What comes to mind when you see a McDonald’s logo compared to an Arby’s logo?

Finding and demonstrating your business value isn’t the only thing your brand needs to do, however. Your brand should also adapt as well. In this age of shifting customer loyalty, an outdated brand can also kill your business value. As Brand Identity Breakthrough warns, “Because people’s values are constantly changing, you can never be completely sure that the value you create today will still be relevant tomorrow.”

That’s why, the book argues, a brand shouldn’t be seen as something you quickly put together to make a sale. Branding should be a thoughtful and continual process that should evolve with you. It should be targeted toward a specific group of customers, but the overall story and appeal should be universal. It should reflect your personal style and approach to creating value for your customer, whether that customer is a single mom from Nebraska or a multi-national company. No matter what, it should tell the simple story of how your business can offer value to your customer at this point in time.

Author Gregory V. Diehl, who wrote Great Identitiy Breakthrough,  is an educator and business coach who left home at 18 and has been traveling the world ever since. Starting with his first gig as a street guitar player and guitar teacher, he has served as a mentor, teacher and business communications coach. When he isn’t working or traveling, Gregory is busy working on a personal lifestyle sanctuary in Ecuador.

What Was Best About Brand Identity Breakthrough?

The best part of Brand Identity Breakthrough is the personal approach the author brings to the book. Diehl provides business lessons in the context of his own personal stories so readers get a glimpse of the mentality that leads up to the lesson. For example, the book talks about Diehl’s temporary copywriting job that led him to re-evaluate how job seekers present their skills on a resume or business owners present their sales to customers.

What Could Have Been Done Differently

While the book provides a great set of stories with a lesson, it could have used more attention on the content. First, the book could definitely have used more examples while important lessons were provided. For example, readers may want to see a company’s change in a logo (color, size or shape) to get a visual idea of the book’s principles. To be fair, there are examples in the last section of the book but this could be better distributed throughout for a greater teaching moment. More attention to the visual part of storytelling would have been helpful.

Why Read Brand Identity Breakthrough?

Brand Identity Breakthrough is recommended for business owners who need a branding change, whether this means getting a brand in the first place or refreshing the one you have. The author provides a uniquely personal approach to branding that uses stories to emphasize lessons rather than tossing out recommendations for your business. Because of this, the book provides an example for companies to follow. If you need a new brand, the book will identify some key areas you want to consider to ensure your story goes right. If you need to transform your brand, this book will provide some additional points to think about while planning.

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Charles Franklin Charles Franklin is a Book Reviewer for Small Business Trends. He has a background as a professional reviewer, and is also a content provider and customer relations professional.

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