Once we know something, it becomes hard to imagine what it feels like not to know it.
More quotesThree product pages describe their buyer.
The first says, “For people who make films, music and art.” The buyer can picture the work.
The second says, “For bold innovators rewriting the future.” The buyer has purchased payroll software.
The third says, “For rebels who refuse to compromise.” It is a sea-salt snack bar available in a multipack.
Identity can be commercially powerful because a purchase often says something about the person making it. The trouble begins when the compliment wildly exceeds the action. Exporting a PDF does not make anyone a visionary. Selecting a flavour does not constitute civil disobedience. At that point the people behind the brand sound desperate for the buyer’s approval.
The quoted ad describes a particular group and accepts that some people will feel outside it. That selectivity makes the praise specific. Contemporary brand workshops tend to request the same emotional effect while including absolutely everybody: bold yet reassuring, rebellious yet trusted, unique yet designed for the whole family. They end up with the psychological precision of a horoscope.
During the product review, the team removes five compliments and writes down what customers actually make, learn or change after buying. Two answers are impressive. One is embarrassingly ordinary.
Marketing keeps the ordinary one. It is true, useful and recognisable. Someone leaves “fearless changemakers” in the discarded version, where it harms nobody.