Does Aquafina sell water?

If someone where to magically replace the water in your favorite brand of still bottled water with filtered tap water, would you really notice?

I seriously doubt it.

Odds are, you don’t buy Aquafina (or Deer Park or Mountain Spring) because you like the way the water tastes. You buy them because the way they make you feel.

The typography, the cover art, the packaging, the product placement, the mission, and the mere fact that they are perceived as natural and normal (or not), make a huge difference in who buys these products and who doesn’t.

Branding is very much a con game. Because for most commodity items, appearances matter far more than the product itself.

Certainly the quality of your product matters. No one buys murky water. But if you find yourself struggling to market a seemingly great product, it makes sense to at least focus on the storytelling part as much as your R&D.

Branding is a placebo, sure. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t real, or that it doesn’t matter.

Most people, after all, buy stories, not products.