Dan Beaumont: What are we really selling?
by Dan Beaumont (pictured below), Founder, GAME
What are we really selling?
We hear it all the time—brands don’t sell products, they sell emotions.
• Coke sells happiness, not drinks.
• Apple sells creativity, not computers.
• Supreme sells scarcity, not hoodies.
• Dove sells self-love, not soap.
• Hermès sells status, not bags.
• Jeep sells adventure, not cars.
• Harley-Davidson sells freedom, not motorcycles.
• Tiffany sells love, not diamonds.
Alright, let’s pause for a second. Does Tiffany actually sell love? How much does love cost these days? Is it a flat fee, or do I get billed by the hour? And if I buy the wrong ring, do I get a refund on the love, or just a store credit?
I get it. It’s not just about the product—it’s about the emotional connection, the feeling a brand creates. But sometimes, marketing gets a little too caught up in its own poetry. And when we start believing our own hype, we risk losing credibility with the people who actually run businesses—the ones who allocate budgets and have the power to take them away.
Here’s the truth: A brand does not exist inside a company. It exists inside people’s minds—in their perceptions, feelings, and beliefs about a product or service. Our job as marketers isn’t to sell an unattainable dream—it’s to shape those perceptions in a way that makes people like a brand more and importantly, want to buy what we’re actually selling.
That’s where brand strategy comes in. At its core, brand strategy answers two simple questions:
1. What do we want people to think of us?
2. How do we get them to think those things?
That’s it. That’s the job. Advertising is just how we deliver that message through the funnel and drive sales. When done well, brand-building creates long-term demand. It makes an organisation, product, or service distinctive, memorable, and emotionally resonant (mental availability).
Creative people love emotional storytelling. It works. That’s why we do this job. But let’s be honest—businesses are run by rational, financially driven pragmatists. This is why some in the C-suite see marketing as an expendable cost, rather than an investment in future cash flow. Because if budgets need to be cut, guess what? They’re looking at that big chunk of cash labelled “The Love Fund” and thinking, “Yeah, I think we’ll be fine without this.”
If we talk about brands as if they’re purely about emotions and abstract ideas, we risk sounding like we’ve lost touch with the commercial realities of business. And look, I’m not saying emotion isn’t important—it absolutely is. It’s been proven time and again that emotional marketing works. But it has to be grounded in something real.
Take Hermès. People say Hermès sells status. But if you go to their website, you won’t see the word status anywhere. Instead, they say:
“The freedom to create, the constant quest for beautiful materials, and the transmission of exceptional know-how – which enable the creation of useful and elegant objects that stand the test of time.”
You know what that means? It means we make expensive-ass bags. The status? That’s a bonus (the difference between what you get charged and what it costs to make). Now, if you’re buying a fake Hermès bag, then you’re definitely trying to buy status. You’re probably desperate for it. An illusion is all you’re getting for $150. But no one is dropping $50k on a feeling without the actual Birkin. Yes, status is a byproduct, but the real utility lies with a high-end, handcrafted luxury item, that women (or David Beckham), love using day after day.
This is the key distinction:
• People buy products because they have utility.
• People choose brands because they create meaning.
The best marketing understands how to bring those two things together.
Let’s go back to Coke. Are they selling happiness? No—they’re selling carbonated sugar water. But here’s where it gets interesting: they’ve spent decades attaching their product to an emotional story—one about togetherness, happiness, and refreshment. The product is the drink. That’s what they’re charging you for. The brand idea is happiness, and that’s what makes you pay more for it and stops you buying Pepsi.
So now, when we drink a Coke, it’s not just about the taste—it’s about the feeling we associate with it. This is where marketing works its magic. The product is the drink—that’s what’s being sold. The product is wrapped in a brand idea—happiness.
But let’s be clear—Coke is not Prozac. You’re not going to drink a can and suddenly start solving your childhood trauma.
But where does the product end and the brand start?
Can they be isolated from one another?
Well… yes and no. Emotion makes brands memorable, but emotion alone doesn’t sell products. It enhances how we perceive them. However, companies don’t sell feelings—they sell products wrapped in meaning. And that’s a subtle but critical shift in how we explain what we do—and how we prove our value to the business.
Yes, long-term brand building works—it creates preference, drives future demand, and supports pricing strategy.
And yes, short-term sales tactics matter—because somebody needs to buy this stuff today. Right now, so marketing and sales can hit their monthly targets and maybe—just maybe—get a bonus.
But at the end of the day, nobody’s dropping all that cash on just status, love, or adventure.
They buy fizzy drinks, diamonds, and choppers. But if we market it right, people might feel a little more happiness, love, and freedom from using the product.
That’s how we add incremental value. Connecting the rational reasons to buy with the emotional reasons to care.
Do you know what you are actually selling?