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Last month, a potential client showed me their latest ad campaign. Beautiful photography, perfect typography, crystal-clear messaging that listed every single product feature and benefit. “What do you think?” they asked proudly.
My response surprised them: “It’s professional, but it’s also forgettable.”
This is the trap of descriptive marketing – and it’s quietly destroying brands across Greece and beyond.
What is Descriptive Marketing?
Descriptive marketing focuses purely on what your product or service does. It’s rational, logical, and features-heavy. Think of it as the marketing equivalent of reading a technical manual.
Typical descriptive marketing includes:
- Long lists of product features
- Technical specifications and details
- Rational benefits and logical arguments
- “We do this, we offer that” messaging
- Comparison charts and data points
- Comparison charts and data points
Here’s an example: “Our premium olive oil is cold-pressed, organic, extra virgin, with less than 0.3% acidity, bottled in UV-protective glass, and sourced from century-old trees in Kalamata.”
Sounds impressive, right? But here’s the problem – so does every other premium olive oil brand’s description.
The 5 ways Descriptive Marketing hurts Your Brand
- You become a Commodity. When you only describe features, you’re essentially saying “we’re just like everyone else, but with slightly different specifications.” In today’s competitive market, brands struggle to distinguish themselves to increasingly apathetic consumers.
I’ve seen this with countless Greek businesses. Two tavernas both describe their “fresh, local ingredients and traditional recipes.” Customers can’t differentiate, so they choose based on location or price. Neither brand wins.
- Your message gets lost in the Noise. Today’s consumer base is flooded with advertisements on a daily basis. When every brand lists similar features, your descriptive message becomes background noise.
Think about car advertisements. They all mention fuel efficiency, safety features, and technology packages. But which ones do you remember? Usually the ones that made you feel something – freedom, status, adventure, or security.
- You can’t command Premium Prices. Features can be copied. Emotions can’t. When you market descriptively, you’re competing in a race to the bottom because there’s always someone who can offer similar features for less.
Descriptive marketing essentially tells customers: “Compare our specs to everyone else’s and pick the best deal.” This commoditizes your brand and erodes profit margins.
- You don’t create Brand Loyalty. Emotional brands have a significant impact when the consumer experiences a strong and lasting attachment to the brand comparable to a feeling of bonding, companionship or love.
Descriptive marketing creates customers who buy your product. Emotional marketing creates customers who become advocates for your brand. There’s a massive difference in lifetime value and word-of-mouth marketing.
- Your Marketing becomes Forgettable. Although brand technicalities such as product attributes, features, and facts may be unmemorable, personal feelings and experiences better shape consumers’ evaluations of brands.
Quick test: Can you remember a single feature from the last five ads you saw? Probably not. But you might remember how they made you feel or the story they told.
Real-World Example: The Olive Oil Disaster
A client in Crete spent €30,000 on a campaign describing their olive oil’s technical superiority. The campaign flopped despite being factually accurate and beautifully designed.
Why? Because when people buy premium olive oil, they’re not buying acidity levels. They’re buying a connection to tradition, health for their family, the taste of authentic Mediterranean life, or status among their friends.
We repositioned the brand around “bringing your family the pure taste of generations,” and sales increased 340% with the same budget.
The Psychology Behind Why Descriptive Marketing Fails
Humans make decisions emotionally and then justify them rationally. Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman found that 95% of purchasing decisions happen in the subconscious mind.
When you lead with descriptions, you’re appealing to the 5% of conscious, rational thinking. You’re ignoring the 95% of subconscious, emotional decision-making.
Companies should inventory their existing market research and customer insight data, looking for qualitative descriptions of what motivates their customers—desires for freedom, security, success, and so on.
Common Positioning vs Identity Mistakes Greek Businesses Make
These are the most frequent errors:
Mistake 1: Logo-First Thinking. Starting with visual design before clarifying positioning. It’s like decorating a house before deciding what rooms you need.
Mistake 2: Following Trends Instead of Strategy. Adopting popular design styles that don’t match your brand’s positioning. Your identity should serve your strategy, not Instagram trends.
Mistake 3: Inconsistent Expression. Having clear positioning but expressing it differently across channels. This confuses customers and weakens your brand.
What to Do Instead: The Emotional Connection Framework
Step 1: Identify Your Customer’s Real Motivation
Ask “why” three times for every purchase:
- Why do they buy premium olive oil? (Health)
- Why do they care about health? (Family wellbeing)
- Why does family wellbeing matter? (Love and protection)
Now you’re at the emotional core: love and protection.
Step 2: Lead with Emotion, Support with Features
Start your messaging with the emotional benefit, then back it up with rational proof.
Instead of: “Our olive oil has 0.2% acidity and is cold-pressed.” Try: “Give your family the pure goodness they deserve – with our cold-pressed olive oil that meets the strictest quality standards.”
Step 3: Tell Stories, Not Specifications
Emotional branding helps to connect your customers with your brand by appealing to your user’s ego, emotional state, needs and aspirations.
Share customer stories, founder journeys, or brand heritage. Stories create emotional connections that specifications never can.
Step 4: Use Sensory Language
Descriptive marketing uses technical terms. Emotional marketing uses words that trigger the senses and feelings:
- Instead of “high-quality materials” → “luxuriously soft”
- Instead of “efficient service” → “peace of mind”
- Instead of “advanced technology” → “effortlessly simple”
Step 5: Create Shared Values
Modern consumers, especially in Greece, want to buy from brands that share their values. Position your brand around what you believe in, not just what you sell.
How Greek Brands Are Getting This Right
Fage Yogurt doesn’t just describe their protein content and Greek recipe. They position themselves around authentic Greek tradition and family health, making customers feel connected to Mediterranean wellness culture.
Korres Cosmetics could focus on natural ingredients and dermatological benefits. Instead, they lead with Greek beauty heritage and the confidence that comes from nature’s wisdom.
Both brands use their features (ingredients, heritage, quality) to support their emotional positioning, not as the primary message.
Your next Steps: Audit Your Current Marketing
Ask yourself these questions:
- Message Test: If you removed your logo, would customers know it’s your brand or could it be any competitor?
- Emotional Check: What emotion does your marketing create? Boredom doesn’t count.
- Memory Test: What would customers remember about your brand 24 hours after seeing your marketing?
- Story Assessment: Are you telling your customers what you do, or are you sharing why it matters to them?
- Decision Influence: Does your marketing appeal to how people actually make buying decisions (emotionally) or how we think they should decide (rationally)?
Descriptive marketing treats customers like computers that process specifications and make logical decisions. But your customers are humans who feel first and think second.
The brands that thrive in 2025 and beyond won’t be the ones with the best features lists. They’ll be the ones that understand what their customers really want to feel and then deliver that emotion consistently.
Your features are your proof. Your emotional promise is your power.
Stop describing what you do. Start communicating why it matters.
Ready to Transform Your Marketing Strategy?
If you’re tired of marketing that sounds like everyone else’s, you’re ready for a different approach. I’ve created a comprehensive collection of ebooks that will show you how to build emotional connections that drive real business results.
Afroditi Arampatzi
Marketeer
Hi, I’m Afroditi!
An experienced marketer with a passion for driving impactful projects and delivering strategic solutions.
With over 15 years of hands-on experience in project management, I specialize in advertising, data analysis, strategic planning, and team leadership.
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