I'm not a marketer, but I think there are some important differences worth examining here... First, there is clearly a big difference between marketing to a te

I'm not a marketer, but I think there are some important differences worth examining here... First, there is clearly a big difference between marketing to a technical crowd like HN, and marketing to the general public. Also, marketing products that are 99.9% similar will probably be bused on non-technical features exactly because the products are so similar. Also, I think benefits are more broad and emotional. For example, a lot of auto ads are clearly about how a certain car will, for example, get you laid. Or at least get you an attractive female companion. that's the benefit. Not that it is more reliable, or scores higher in Consumer Reports ratings. The HN crowd is more technical, so puts more value in Consumer Reports ratings, but many people don't actually care. They may think they do, but, when it comes to actually spending money, they don't.