Some of the smartest advertising campaigns do not sell the product itself, but the feeling that begins long before you ever have it in your hands. A TV commercial from TUI reminded me why good marketing is almost always more about psychology than product specifications.
When the purchase becomes part of the experience
I saw a TV commercial for TUI that touched on something I have written about before. The commercial opens with the idea that completing the booking for your holiday can feel almost as wonderful as actually being there, and ends with the words: “Book now, start dreaming.”
Because that is exactly what good marketing is about. You are not just selling the product; you are selling the feeling the product creates, and sometimes you are even selling the feeling that begins before the product has been used at all. This is where many businesses miss the mark. They become so focused on explaining what they offer, how it works, what it costs and which features are included that they forget what actually sets something in motion in people.
What truly sparks interest is rarely the feature itself. It is the feeling of what this could do for:
- my life
- my everyday routine
- my mood
- or simply my ability to breathe a little easier on a busy Tuesday
What TUI does so well here is not simply market the holiday itself, but the moment before the holiday begins. They turn the booking into the beginning of the experience, and that is both simple, precise and psychologically smart.
Because the moment you book, something happens mentally. Everyday life suddenly gets a small crack of light, there is something new to look forward to in the calendar, and your thoughts begin travelling somewhere else. You may picture sunshine and warmth, a swimming pool, a long breakfast without rushing, or simply a few days when you can finally let your shoulders drop without feeling guilty about it.
Anticipation is also part of the value
Many people think the value of a product only begins once it is being used, but that is not always true. Some of the value lies in anticipation. That applies to holidays, but it applies to many other things as well:
- When you buy concert tickets, you are not just buying a few hours of music, but also the weeks of anticipation leading up to the concert
- When you order a new sofa, you are not just buying a piece of furniture, but the idea of how your living room will feel once everything is in place
- When you invest in a service designed to make everyday life easier, you often begin to feel the relief the very moment you say yes
And sometimes it does not stop there.
I have experienced this myself when I know something needs replacing, such as the laptop I have had since 2017. I have spent an unknown number of hours reading tests, reviews and recommendations about what I should buy, and have almost ended up in a kind of analysis paralysis. It is almost as if the very thought of buying something new creates its own form of satisfaction, long before I actually make the decision.
That is quite fascinating, because in practice it means that the value has already started to emerge even though the purchase has not yet been made.
Still, there are suppliers that, in their efforts to make things simpler, end up removing so much information that there is not enough left to create anticipation. For many people, that phase matters. They want to read, explore and imagine what they are going to get, because that is where the dream begins to take shape.
The result is often that they choose something else. Not because it is objectively better, but because it gave them something to feel before making the decision. It is a little like property or car listings, where the photographs often do most of the selling long before you even begin reading the description.
This is what many marketers underestimate. They become so focused on describing the delivery that they forget to describe the psychological benefit that begins before the delivery even takes place.
Feeling first, features second
That does not mean features are unimportant. The product has to deliver, the information must be clear and the price has to make sense. But what sparks interest first is rarely the feature itself. It is the feeling.
It is the difference between saying, “We offer package holidays with direct flights and family-friendly hotels,” and saying, “Book now, start dreaming.” The first statement informs. The second activates something.
That is also why the two messages feel so different, even though in practice they point towards the same thing. One speaks to the rational mind; the other goes straight to the imagination. And once the imagination starts working, the customer begins doing much of the work themselves. They picture the beach, the children swimming, coffee on the balcony, the silence, the laughter and the break from everything that usually demands their attention. At that point, the marketing has done more than communicate an offer. It has opened a door.
And if you want to open that door wide, words such as “family-friendly hotel” are not enough. In practice, that phrase means very little until you make it concrete. For some people, it means the children have activities and plenty to do, allowing the parents to lean back, relax and enjoy some peace without having to keep watch every minute.
Or, put another way:
A family hotel where the children are well looked after and have more than enough to keep them entertained, so you can relax and simply enjoy being on holiday. Book now, start dreaming.
Why emotions sell
This is not about manipulation, but about understanding how we actually make decisions. We like to think of ourselves as rational, carefully comparing alternatives and choosing whatever makes the most sense on paper. In practice, however, it is often emotion that opens the door, while logic comes in afterwards and helps us justify the choice.
Our brains are designed to make quick decisions based on impressions, experiences and expectations, with the emotional response often arriving before the analytical assessment has had time to fully engage. In other words, we often feel what we want before we are able to explain why.
That is also why we can spend a long time “considering” a purchase even though, in reality, we may have made up our minds much earlier than we realise.
This means brands that talk only about price, specifications and features are often doing only half the job. They give us something to think about, but very little to feel. They inform, but they do not inspire. They explain, but they do not move us.
The TUI commercial does the opposite. It reaches the feeling first and lets everything else follow. It reminds us of something many marketers forget: the customer journey is not merely a process, but part of the experience itself.
Perhaps this is where many businesses lose people
I have previously written that you should not sell the service itself, but what the service gives the customer. Here, I would take that idea one step further and say that we should not forget the feeling that begins before customers have even received what they bought. For some products, that feeling is a significant part of the value.
Yet many businesses market themselves as though everything is primarily about delivery times, functionality and process. They carefully explain what happens after the purchase but say far less about what the customer gets to feel the moment the decision has been made. That is a missed opportunity, because this is often exactly where the magic happens.
In practice, TUI is not only selling holidays. They are also selling calm, anticipation, escape, longing, a break from everyday life and the feeling that something good is on its way. That is precisely why the commercial works: it does not simply sell a place, but a state of mind.
In summary
The best marketers do not just sell the product, and they do not just sell the benefit. They sell the feeling that begins before the benefit itself has even been realised.
It is easy to talk about what the customer gets. It is much harder, and much smarter, to talk about what the customer begins to feel the moment they say yes. Perhaps that is why some messages stay with us while others simply pass by. They do not just inform us; they set something in motion.
Good marketing is not just about explaining what you sell. It is about activating something in people before they make the choice. The strongest campaigns do not simply sell the product, but the feeling, the anticipation and the idea of what it could do for your life, your everyday routine or your mood.
