A phrase my Deputy Head at school often used and we never quite got! But when a brand talks about product features, rather than benefits, this is exactly what they’re doing; placing the onus on the consumer. The consumer is responsible for figuring out what the benefits are, and whether it’s right for them.  

A credit card brand received a good response to their new campaign. Lots of people signed up and took out the card. But a few months down the line many of these new customers were not using the ‘new features’. The very features that the company believed to have driven uptake of the card.  

Speaking to customers it quickly became evident they did not understand some of the features or how they would benefit from them. “I don’t use my credit card abroad so I don’t need to receive notifications if it’s used in another country!” they would say. By communicating the feature, the benefit was not understood. The notifications were designed to alert them of any misuse or fraud on their card NOT to confirm their own purchases. The feature was dismissed as irrelevant. They had not seen or recognised the benefit. 

A product feature is a specific piece of functionality that has a corresponding benefit or set of benefits for the user.  

Benefits are the value that users gain from using that functionality.  

Talking about the features puts the onus on each and every consumer to work out what the benefit is for themselves.   

Let’s give consumers (and brands) a hand and talk about the benefits.