It's never about the product. It's about the transformation.

There's a question I ask every single client in our first strategy session together. It's deceptively simple, but it changes everything.

"If you were to write your own ideal customer review, what would it say?"

Go on. Try it now. Picture your dream customer sitting down to write about their experience with you. What do they say?

Here's what I've noticed after asking this question dozens of times across completely different industries: the first answer is almost always about the product or service. The features. The speed. The price point. The quality.

But that's not what customers actually care about. And it's not what makes them come back, tell their friends, or leave a glowing review without being asked.

It's the transformation.

What transformation actually looks like

I worked with a start-up bakery for nearly two years building their marketing strategy from scratch. When the founder first answered this question, she talked about the quality of her ingredients and how the buns were handmade. All true. All important. But not what would make someone choose her over every other gift option available online.

When we dug deeper, the transformation became clear. Her customers weren't buying cinnamon buns. They were buying the moment someone opens a box and feels genuinely thought about. They were buying the relief of finding a gift that says "I know you" without spending hours searching. They were buying joy literally.

Once we understood that, everything shifted. The messaging changed. The website copy changed. The email campaigns changed. The way she talked about her business on social media changed. And sales targets were hit in year one and year two, with a growing base of repeat customers who kept coming back because the brand spoke to what actually mattered to them.

That's what happens when you stop marketing the product and start marketing the transformation.

The disconnect I keep seeing

I had a conversation recently with another marketing consultant who was stuck on a client problem. The brand had a brilliant product, genuinely innovative, eye-catching, getting millions of views on social media. But it wasn't converting. People were watching, engaging, sharing... and then not buying.

His instinct was that it was a targeting problem. Find the right audience, serve them the right ads, job done.

But when we talked it through, the real issue was something different entirely. The brand was so focused on how clever and fun their product was that they'd forgotten to answer the most basic question: what problem does this solve for the person buying it?

The product content was entertaining. But it wasn't connecting to a moment in someone's life where they thought, "I need this." There was no transformation. Just a cool thing.

This happens more often than you'd think. Businesses fall in love with what they've built which is natural and then market the thing they're proud of rather than the outcome their customer is looking for.

It works at every scale

I've seen this pattern play out whether I'm working with a solo founder or sitting in a boardroom with a global brand.

A boutique floristry business came to me attracting mainly lower-value enquiries despite having beautiful work and strong credentials. When we explored the transformation her ideal customer was really after, it wasn't "flowers for my wedding." It was the feeling of having someone truly understand their vision and bring it to life without the stress. Once her messaging reflected that transformation, she started attracting higher-value clients and ended up with a fully booked pipeline.

A women's health clinic needed to build trust and connection with patients navigating something deeply personal. The transformation wasn't "expert menopause care" (though that mattered). It was feeling heard, understood, and supported during a confusing and often isolating experience. When the messaging shifted to reflect that, the connection with their audience became immediate and authentic.

A talent consultancy wanted to stand apart in a crowded executive search market. The product - finding great candidates was the same as everyone else. But the transformation was different: giving hiring managers confidence, transparency, and control over a process that usually feels opaque and frustrating. That became the foundation for a brand story that actually resonated.

Different industries. Different audiences. Same principle.

Why this matters for your marketing

When you're clear on the transformation you deliver, every marketing decision gets easier.

You stop agonising over which social platform to be on, because you know where your customers are and what they need to hear. You stop creating content that talks about what you do and start creating content that speaks to what your customer feels. Your website copy stops reading like a features list and starts reading like a conversation with someone who gets it.

And perhaps most importantly, you stop competing on product alone, which is a race to the bottom and start competing on the experience and outcome only you can deliver.

Try this today

Write your ideal customer review. Not the one about your product being "great quality" or "really fast delivery." The one that describes how working with you or buying from you actually changed something for them.

If you're a bakery, maybe it's: "She opened the box and her whole face lit up. I've never felt so confident about a gift."

If you're a florist, maybe it's: "She understood exactly what I wanted before I could even articulate it. Walking into my wedding felt like stepping into a dream."

If you're a consultant, maybe it's: "For the first time, I actually know who I'm talking to and what to say. My marketing finally makes sense."

Whatever it is, that review is your north star. It should guide your messaging, your content, your campaigns, and the way you talk about what you do.

If you're struggling to write it or if what you've written still sounds like a product description that's usually a sign the strategic foundations need some work first. And that's exactly what my Strategy Sprint is designed to help with.

In a focused engagement, we get under the skin of your customers, uncover the transformation you actually deliver, and build a strategy rooted in what matters to the people you're trying to reach.

Because when your marketing speaks to transformation rather than features, everything clicks into place.