Features Vs. Benefits: Making Mundane Products Magnificent

By Dallas Ziebell, dziebell@lessitermedia.com
Marketing Manager, Lessiter Media

Legendary copywriter Joseph Sugarman said it best: "Every product has a unique personality and it is your job to find it.”

When it comes to defining a product's unique personality and communicating it to the customer, many marketers go wrong by putting too much emphasis on a product's features, or what the product IS and DOES, instead of highlighting the product's benefits, or how it can improve the user's life. This is called features vs. benefits marketing, and it's a cornerstone of effective copy writing and promotion.

Today we take a look at two everyday consumer items — a pencil and an umbrella — and show how even the most mundane products can become magnificent when focus is shifted to the product's benefits instead of its features.

Give it a read and then take a look at some of your recent marketing content. Are you leading with the benefits, or are you dwelling on the features?