What Product-Focused Businesses Can Learn from People-Focused Ones

As someone who’s firmly rooted in the world of people-focused marketing, stepping into a product-focused business can feel like an entirely different ball game. I’ve always been human-first in my approach but having spent the last few years working in people-focused organisations with people at the heart of the service they offer, stepping back into the product world, the facelessness slapped me round the face with some force, I can tell you!

It’s easy for such organisations to fall into the trap of focusing solely on features, specs, or the hard sell. But it’s far easier for people to connect with people than to connect with products.

Even the most iconic products and brands succeed because they’ve mastered the art of making the item they sell feel human-imbued with personality, emotion, and relatability. So, what can product-driven businesses learn from their people-focused counterparts?

1. People Share Stories, Not Products

If you’re scrolling through social media, what stops you in your tracks? It’s not a static post showing a product on a white background. It’s a video of someone using the product, sharing their authentic feedback, or demonstrating how it fits into their life. This could be an influencer, a brand ambassador, or just an enthusiastic customer.

People-focused businesses understand that stories drive engagement. The success of campaigns hinges on human connections.

Let’s take Journee as an example. Their marketing is never about the surprise trip people book with them - it shares the stories of their customers, of real people, uncovering the surprise of their holiday destination.

Similarly, in fashion, you won’t sell a dress by saying, “It’s made of high-quality cotton.” You’ll sell it by showing someone wearing it, twirling in it, feeling confident in it. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never bought a brand-new dress online without seeing the model wearing it. I’d naturally skip by any such items and be enticed by those product images that make its wearer look fabulous.

Products, in their rawest form, do not have personalities. People do. Even the brands that have cultivated a distinct “voice,” like Aldi or Surreal, have done so by borrowing from human quirks: wit, humour, and relatability. Your sarcastic best friend, who likes winding people up, and your offbeat bestie who thrives on absurdity and charisma. These brands shine because they’ve infused their products and services with a human touch that invites connection.

The lesson here? Products need to borrow humanity. Whether that’s through storytelling, humour, or authentic feedback from real people, businesses that want to connect must go beyond the product itself and bring the human touch into the spotlight.

2. Sell the Experience, Not the Specs

A prison cell and a Premier Inn room both come with a bed, a TV, and towels. Right? So, why are people clamouring to stay in one over the other? Aside from the obvious, Premier Inn isn’t selling the room - it’s selling the experience of a good night’s sleep. With campaigns like “Rest Easy,” Premier Inn taps into an emotional benefit - you’ll feel rested, relaxed, and ready to tackle the day.

They’ve even extended this concept to their products. Premier Inn doesn’t market their mattresses as just mattresses - they position them as part of their continuous investment in quality sleep. They’ve made the message clear. They aren’t marketing products or services, but tools to achieve the deeply human need for rest and comfort.

This approach is true across industries. Nobody buys a Peloton bike because it’s a stationary piece of fitness equipment. They spend more buying this particular brand, because it offers them community, motivation, and the emotional high of conquering a tough workout. Similarly, people don’t buy candles because they need more light in their house or smell good (ok, so I might buy them because they smell good, but an air freshener would do the job!). They buy the feeling - of cosiness, relaxation, or even indulgence - that the scent and the glow evokes.

For product-focused businesses, this is a critical lesson. Stop listing features and start selling benefits. Think about the emotional or practical transformation your product offers. How does it improve someone’s life? How does it make them feel? THAT is where you need to be spending your time and effort.

3. Employee-Led Storytelling Builds Connection

In people-focused businesses, the brand naturally reflects the essence of its employees and customers. But in product-focused businesses, the connection can feel more distant. Why? Because it’s easy to forget the people behind the brand.

Some businesses have recognised this and flipped the dynamic, putting employees at the forefront of their marketing efforts.

Take Booking.com as an example. Back in 2016, they launched their ‘One Mission’ project, where 14,000 employees were given company-supplied GoPro cameras to record their own vacations. The result? A massive, engaging travel montage built from real employee experiences, showcasing not just destinations but the joy and excitement of discovery. It reinforced their credibility, made their marketing feel more personal, and showcased their brand through authentic, human stories.

Or look at the ‘product’ retailer, Currys, who you’ll find fully embracing employee-led storytelling across its social media. Their colleagues don’t just promote products; they bring them to life in fun and engaging ways - whether it’s an ice bath challenge to sell… an ice bath unsurprisingly, hide-and-seek videos that subtly feature products as hiding places, or simply celebrating in-store experiences with fun and games and PEOPLE. Their messaging constantly reminds the audience that these aren’t paid actors but real colleagues who know and love what they do. Compare this to Currys’ marketing 10 years ago, which was a much more transactional showcase of product images and sale prices. The shift to a people-first approach has made their brand infinitely more engaging.

For product-focused businesses, this is a powerful takeaway. Elevating the voices of employees, featuring real colleagues in marketing, and allowing them to drive storytelling isn’t just more relatable - it makes a brand feel more alive, more credible, and more human. (I hear the ding ding ding of winning the jackpot, over here!)

4. Make Your Marketing Conversational, Not Transactional

People-focused businesses know how to talk to their audience like, well, people. They use conversational tones, humour, empathy, and storytelling to build trust and loyalty.

In contrast, product-focused marketing often falls into the trap of sounding like a sales pitch. Take skincare, for example. Brands like The Ordinary historically marketed their products based on technical jargon and science-heavy descriptions. But then along came brands like Glossier, which spoke directly to customers in a warm, conversational tone, prioritising how the product would make them feel - confident, dewy, and naturally beautiful.

The shift wasn’t just about tone, which was clearly more engaging and relatable. It was about making the customer feel seen, understood, and valued. Conversational marketing breaks down barriers between businesses and consumers. It builds trust, makes brands more approachable, and encourages genuine engagement. Brands that embrace this approach see stronger customer relationships, more word-of-mouth marketing, and higher loyalty rates.

So do me a favour. Ditch the corporate jargon. Chances are, nobody cares. Talk to your audience the way you’d talk to a friend. Highlight what matters to them. Make them feel something. The more human your words sound, the more likely people are to connect with it.

The Power of People

At its core, marketing - whether for people-focused or product-focused businesses - is about connection. It’s about bridging the gap between what you’re selling and how people experience it. The most successful brands understand that people don’t just buy products; they buy emotions, experiences, and the stories behind them.

So, if you’re in a product-focused business, take a lesson from the people-first organisations. Find the human angle, let your employees and customers tell the story, and create marketing that feels less like a pitch and more like a conversation. The more human your brand feels, the stronger the connection you’ll build - and that’s where you’ll see true loyalty flourish.