The Product Isn’t The Story: What A Simple Advert Teaches Us About Positioning

There’s a type of advert that needs very little explanation and still manages to stop you scrolling. 

I saw one recently for a children’s nutrition product. The advert referenced a study claiming that UK children are, on average, 7cm shorter than some of their European peers due to poor nutrition. The research behind that claim is part of a bigger conversation, and I’m not here to endorse the product, validate the interpretation of the data, or pretend a marketing blog is the ideal place for a full peer review over a cup of tea. 

What caught my attention was the positioning. 

Because the advert doesn’t say “Buy this supplement and your child will grow by 7cm.” It doesn’t say “Our product will solve this.” It doesn’t say “Children are shorter because they’re not taking our vitamins.” 

Instead, it presents a worrying statistic, links it to poor nutrition, shows a visual comparison between two children, and places a “Shop Now” button underneath. 

That’s an important distinction. 

There’s public context behind the height discussion. UCL reported in 2023 that British five-year-olds were “up to 7cm shorter” than some western peers, and The Food Foundation has since discussed declining children’s health in the context of poor diets and wider socio-economic factors. That last point matters because the issue is clearly more complex than one product, one nutrient, or one advert can responsibly solve. 

But from a marketing perspective, the advert is useful because it demonstrates how powerful positioning can be when a brand understands the emotion sitting underneath the purchase. 

Why this advert works so quickly 

The advert uses hardly any words, but it creates a story almost immediately. That’s why it works – or at least why it captures your attention long enough to make you stop. 

When you look at it through a StoryBrand lens, it follows a simple but powerful structure: 

Problem → Villain → Stakes → Implied Solution 

That’s the part that deserves the most attention. 

The product isn’t doing most of the work. The story is. 

In StoryBrand terms, your customer isn’t looking for a product first. They’re trying to solve a problem. The best marketing understands this and enters the story at the point where the customer already cares. 

This advert does exactly that. 

It starts with a problem people care about

The problem isn’t framed as “your child might need more vitamins.” Most parents could scroll past that without too much emotional effort, especially if they’ve already been hit with seventeen wellness claims before breakfast. 

Instead, the problem is framed as children potentially missing out on healthy development. 

That’s much harder to ignore. 

The advert takes an issue that could have been presented as a product benefit and positions it as a human concern. It’s not about ingredients, nutrients, or formulations. It’s about a parent wondering whether their child is getting what they need to grow well. 

That shift matters because people rarely become interested in a product until they first recognise a problem that feels relevant to them. Businesses often forget this. They start with the thing they sell, then wonder why the audience doesn’t care enough to listen. 

The customer’s problem is what creates the opening. 

This is exactly the thinking behind StoryBrand positioning – and why STORY22 applies this approach with every client. 

Then it gives the problem a villain 

In a StoryBrand framework, the villain is the thing standing in the way of the customer’s success. It gives the problem shape. Without a villain, the message can feel flat because there’s no clear source of tension. 

In this advert, the villain is poor nutrition. 

Whether that’s a complete enough explanation is another matter. From a public health perspective, children’s growth is shaped by many factors – diet quality, poverty, living conditions, illness, stress, and wider social inequality. That’s exactly why the claim needs to be treated carefully rather than swallowed whole because a polished ad put two children next to a height chart. 

But from a positioning point of view, poor nutrition gives the audience a clear point of focus. It turns a broad anxiety into something that feels more actionable. 

That’s what villains do in marketing. They simplify the tension so the audience can understand what’s at stake. 

The danger, of course, is that simplification can become oversimplification. That’s why this kind of messaging needs responsibility as well as skill. 

The visual raises the stakes 

The advert doesn’t need a long paragraph explaining the consequences of poor nutrition. It simply shows two children side by side with a 7cm difference between them. 

Suddenly, the issue becomes visible. 

A statistic is easy to skim past. A visual comparison makes the number feel real. You can picture it, which means you can feel it. 

This is where the advert moves from information to emotion. It takes something abstract and turns it into something a parent can immediately imagine. 

A lot of businesses miss this step. They explain the problem in technical terms but don’t show why it matters. They tell customers what their product does but fail to make the cost of inaction clear. 

The solution is implied, not shouted 

The clever part of the advert is that the product itself doesn’t need to dominate the message. 

The advert doesn’t make the direct claim “Buy this and your child will be taller.” It simply presents the problem, gives us a villain, makes the stakes visible, and places a “Shop Now” button underneath. 

Your brain does the connecting. 

That’s powerful positioning – but it’s also why this kind of advertising can feel uncomfortable. The more emotionally charged the problem, the more carefully the brand must handle the message with implication. 

UK advertising rules around food, supplements, and health claims are not casual. The ASA/CAP Code states that nutrition and health claims in marketing communications must be supported by evidence and must meet the relevant authorised conditions of use. Food supplement claims must be permitted or authorised, and marketers must not suggest a widespread vitamin or mineral deficiency exists without well-established proof. 

The ASA also advises that claims referring to children’s development and health are only acceptable if listed as authorised on the relevant register. 

So to be very clear – the lesson here is not “use a dramatic health claim and let the button do the rest.” Please don’t wander into that particular legal swamp wearing flip-flops. 

The lesson is that the emotional work of positioning often happens long before the product takes centre stage.

People don’t buy products first 

This is the real marketing lesson. 

People don’t buy supplements. They buy peace of mind. 

People don’t buy property management. They buy fewer headaches. 

People don’t buy marketing. They buy clarity, growth, confidence, and the feeling that their business is finally moving in the right direction. 

That doesn’t mean the product doesn’t matter. Of course it matters. The product has to work, the service has to deliver, and the promise has to be true. But the product is rarely where the story actually starts. 

The story starts with a problem the customer already cares about. 

Most businesses do the opposite. They lead with: 

• The product or service  
• The features and process  
• The credentials and years of experience  
• The internal language they’ve become attached to because it makes sense inside the business  

But customers don’t begin there. They begin with the thing that’s frustrating them, worrying them, slowing them down, or stopping them from getting what they want. 

That’s why positioning matters. It decides where the story starts. 

What most businesses can learn from this 

The useful lesson isn’t that every brand should create fear-based advertising. The internet has enough panic in it already, and most of us are doing perfectly well at worrying without needing extra help from sponsored posts. 

The useful lesson is that effective positioning starts by identifying the customer’s real problem and giving it a shape they recognise. 

Before you create another campaign, landing page, advert, or LinkedIn post, ask yourself: 

What problem does our customer already care about before we start talking?
What is standing in the way of their success?
What is at stake if they do nothing?
What does success look like in their world, not ours?
What next step would feel obvious and helpful once they understand the problem? 

Those questions are simple, but they change the way you write. They move the message away from “here is what we sell” and towards “here is the problem you are trying to solve, and here is how we can help you move forward.” 

That’s where StoryBrand is so useful. It forces the business to stop positioning itself as the hero of the story and start acting as the guide. The customer has the problem. The customer wants the transformation. The business provides the plan, the support, and the route forward. 

We’ve written more about how to build a message around your customer’s problem here – and why clear messaging is one of the most powerful operational tools a business can have. 

Why fewer words often work harder 

The other reason this advert is interesting is how little it says. 

That’s not easy to do. 

Short messaging only works when the thinking underneath it is sharp. If the strategy is unclear, fewer words usually make the confusion worse. But when the positioning is clear, a small number of words can carry a lot of weight because the audience understands the story quickly. 

That’s the point many businesses miss when they ask for “snappier copy.” The copy is rarely the first problem. The strategy behind the copy usually needs work. 

You can’t simplify what you haven’t clarified. 

That’s why the best marketing doesn’t start with wordsmithing. It starts with strategy: 

Who is the customer?
What do they want?
What problem is in the way?
What is at stake?
Why should they trust you?
What plan are you giving them?
What action should they take? 

Once those answers are clear, the words can do their job. 

If you’ve written your BrandScript but aren’t sure how to turn that thinking into practical marketing, we’ve covered that here too. 

In StoryBrand terms, stakes matter because they show the customer what success or failure looks like. Without stakes, there’s no urgency. Without urgency, the customer has very little reason to act now. 

A note on responsible positioning 

There’s a difference between making a problem clear and using fear to push people into taking action. 

Good positioning should help customers understand something meaningful. It should give them language for a problem they recognise, show what’s at stake, and guide them towards a clear and appropriate next step. 

Bad positioning relies on fear without enough proof, context, or care. 

That distinction matters, especially when the subject involves children, health, money, safety, or anything people naturally feel anxious about. Strong marketing doesn’t remove the need for responsible claims. It makes responsibility even more important because the message is more likely to be trusted, remembered, and acted upon. 

For food and nutrition advertisers, UK guidance is clear that health and nutrition claims made in commercial contexts may need to comply with specific rules, including requirements around authorised claims. 

So yes, this advert is an interesting example of positioning. It’s also a reminder that emotional messaging requires careful handling from marketers. 

How STORY22 uses this kind of thinking 

At STORY22, we help businesses clarify their message using StoryBrand because confused customers rarely buy. 

That doesn’t mean creating dramatic adverts or making every problem feel like a crisis. It means getting underneath what the customer actually cares about and building your message around that, rather than forcing them to work through features, jargon, and internal language before they understand why your business matters. 

We help businesses identify: 

• The real customer problem  
• The villain creating friction  
• The stakes involved  
• The clear next step the customer needs to take  

Then we turn that thinking into practical messaging that can be used across websites, sales conversations, campaigns, content, email marketing, proposals, and AI-supported workflows. 

Because the product is rarely the most powerful part of the story. The problem you help your customer solve is what creates connection. 

Ready to clarify the story your customers actually care about? 

If your marketing is explaining what you do but customers still aren’t acting, the problem may not be visibility. It may be that your message isn’t clearly positioned around the customer’s needs. 

Let’s start a conversation. Book a messaging strategy call with STORY22 and we’ll help you clarify the problem your customers care about, sharpen your message, and make your business easier to understand, trust, and choose. 

Positioning, StoryBrand and Customer Problems: FAQs 

What is positioning in marketing? 

Positioning is the way your business is understood in the mind of your customer. It shapes what people associate with your brand, what problem they believe you solve, and why they should choose you over another option. 

How does StoryBrand help with positioning? 

StoryBrand helps with positioning by putting the customer at the centre of the story. It clarifies what the customer wants, what problem is standing in their way, why your business can guide them, and what action they need to take next. 

Why should marketing start with the customer’s problem? 

Marketing should start with the customer’s problem because people pay attention when they recognise something relevant to their own situation. If you start with the product before the customer understands the problem, they have to work harder to see why it matters. 

What is the villain in StoryBrand? 

The villain is the force standing in the way of the customer’s success. It gives the problem shape and creates tension. In business messaging, the villain might be confusion, wasted time, poor service, unclear marketing, unreliable systems, or any other obstacle your customer wants to overcome. 

Is fear-based marketing effective? 

Fear can get attention, but it needs to be handled carefully. Responsible marketing shows what’s at stake without exaggerating, misleading, or exploiting the audience. The goal should be to create understanding and encourage action, not panic.