Why Great Branding Sells an Experience, Not Just a Product

I recently watched a commercial for a hotel chain that stopped me in my tracks.

Not because it showed a beautiful room.
Not because it highlighted amenities.
Not because it explained anything at all.

The commercial opens with someone being driven in a convertible, a cluster of gold helium balloons floating behind them. They step confidently into the lobby of an elegant hotel. It cuts to women and a parrot surrounded by lush greenery. Then to a confident businesswoman standing up from a glass-walled conference room. Finally, she appears again, dressed differently, arriving at a rooftop bar for the evening.

There was no bed.
No breakfast spread.
No spa bathroom.

And yet, you knew exactly what kind of hotel it was.

On paper, a hotel sells a room. But this commercial was not selling a room. It was selling elegance. Prominence. Affluence. Confidence. Belonging in certain spaces. The brand understood that people are not choosing a hotel because of thread count alone. They are choosing it because of how it makes them feel and who they get to be while they are there.

The gallery above is for a wonderful candle company www.hearthandcraftcandleco.com. Her big words are cozy and slow living. So we can connect her candles to other experiences people already understand cozy or slow living…. meaning her brand connects more deeply and more quickly.

This is the power of storytelling.

Every scene in that commercial was intentional. The convertible suggested arrival and freedom. The gold balloons hinted at celebration and status. The lush foliage felt curated and unexpected. The glass conference room spoke to authority and success. The outfit change for the rooftop bar suggested versatility and lifestyle. None of those moments explained the product. They created association.

By the end of the commercial, you were not thinking about a hotel stay. You were thinking about what it would feel like to move confidently through that world.

That idea is built around what I call a big word.

Elegance. Confidence. Ease. Authority. Calm. Connection.

The hotel chose a big word and let it guide every creative decision. That one word expanded the brand far beyond a room and into a wanted experience. When you lead with a big word, you stop asking how to show the product and start asking how to show the life someone wants.

This is where branding shifts from marketing to meaning.

Most businesses try to sell by listing features. Services offered. Deliverables included. What you get. But the brands that stand out understand that people are not buying the thing. They are buying what the thing represents.

Confidence. Clarity. Belonging. Status. Ease.

Strong branding does not explain itself. It connects. It allows someone to see themselves inside a story and think, “That feels like me,” or “That is where I’m headed.”

This is also why branding photography is more than just taking pictures.

If you only photograph what something is, you miss the opportunity to show what it means. A branding session is not about capturing a face or a space in isolation. It is about creating a connected visual story that aligns with the experience you want to be associated with.

When visuals, messaging, and intention work together, content stops feeling random. Posts start to build on each other. Conversations happen naturally. People feel drawn in before they ever see an offer.

That hotel commercial didn’t convince you it was luxurious. It showed you a world where luxury was already assumed. The product never had to be explained because the experience was clear.

The same is true for your brand.

When you define your big word and let it guide your visuals, your messaging, and your content, your brand moves past just a product or service and toward something people want to step into.

That is the difference between taking pictures and building a brand.

And that is where real connection begins.

If you are thinking about how to tell your brands story… let me help.