Unique Selling Proposition
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marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
, the unique selling proposition (USP), also called the unique selling point, or the unique value proposition (UVP) in the
business model canvas The Business Model Canvas is a strategic management template used for developing new business models and documenting existing ones. It offers a visual chart with elements describing a firm's or product's value proposition, infrastructure, custome ...
, is the
marketing strategy Marketing strategy allows organizations to focus limited resources on best opportunities to increase sales and achieve a competitive advantage in the market. Strategic marketing emerged in the 1970s/80s as a distinct field of study, further build ...
of informing
customer In sales, commerce, and economics, a customer (sometimes known as a client, buyer, or purchaser) is the recipient of a good, service, product or an idea - obtained from a seller, vendor, or supplier via a financial transaction or exchange for ...
s about how one's own
brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
or
product Product may refer to: Business * Product (business), an item that serves as a solution to a specific consumer problem. * Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution Mathematics * Produ ...
is superior to its
competitor Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...
s (in addition to its other
values In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of something or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live (normative ethics in ethics), or to describe the significance of dif ...
). It was used in successful
advertising campaign An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and conc ...
s of the early 1940s. The term was coined by
television advertising A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
pioneer
Rosser Reeves Rosser Reeves (10 September 1910 – 24 January 1984) was an American advertising executive and pioneer of television advertising; Reeves generated millions for his clients. The Ted Bates agency, where he rose to chairman, exists today as Bates ...
of Ted Bates & Company.
Theodore Levitt Theodore Levitt (March 1, 1925 – June 28, 2006) was a German-born American economist and a professor at the Harvard Business School. He was editor of the ''Harvard Business Review'', noted for increasing the Review's circulation and popularizi ...
, a professor at
Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...
, suggested that, "Differentiation is one of the most important strategic and tactical activities in which companies must constantly engage." The term has been extended to cover one's " personal brand".


Definition

A unique selling proposition (USP) refers to the unique benefit exhibited by a company, service, product or brand that enables it to stand out from competitors. The unique selling proposition must be a feature that highlights product benefits that are meaningful to consumers. USP focuses on explicit claims of uniqueness involving an objectively verifiable product attribute or benefit-in-use. #Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer—not just words, product
puffery In everyday language, puffery refers to exaggerated or false praise. Puffery serves to "puff up" what is being described. In law, puffery is usually invoked as a defense argument: it identifies futile speech, typically of a seller, which does n ...
, or show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: "Buy this product, for ''this specific benefit''." #The proposition must be one the competition cannot or does not offer. It must be unique—either in the brand or a claim, the rest of that particular advertising area does not make. #The proposition must be strong enough to move the masses, i.e., attract new customers as well as potential customers.


Importance

The USP concept has become one of the eight broad approaches to creative executions in
advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
.Laskey, H. A., Day, E. and Crask, M.R., "Typology of Main Message Strategies," ''Journal of Advertising,'' vol. 18, no. 1, 1989, pp 36–41. The USP approach is recommended where high levels of
technological innovation Technological innovation is an extended concept of innovation. While innovation is a rather well-defined concept, it has a broad meaning to many people, and especially numerous understanding in the academic and business world. Innovation refers t ...
characterise a product category. A clear USP helps consumers to understand differences - even non-existent differences - between brand offerings in a category, and may also help consumers to form a positive attitude towards a brand and may ultimately contribute to increased levels of brand recall. In order to determine an appropriate USP for any given brand,
marketers Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to empha ...
must undertake extensive research of the category as well as of consumers. It is important to be able to locate a space in the market, ensure that the feature is something that is unique, and also something that is valued by potential customers. Sellers also need to try selling a brand to themselves; this is so they know they are passionate about a product and confident it can succeed. The seller needs a key point to use when trying to sell their product or service, and coming up with it prior to selling will benefit. Having a
point of difference Point of difference refers to the factors of products or services that establish differentiation. Differentiation is the way in which the goods or services of a company differ from its competitors. Indicators of the point of difference's success w ...
to stand out is a major benefit in markets; customers will be drawn to a
business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...
if it offers something no one else has. Whether differences are subtle or blatant, they can be the driving force that ensures the end-consumer makes the desired decision in choosing one product over the competition. In markets which contain many similar products, using a USP is one
campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...
method of differentiating the product from the competition. Products or services without differentiation risk the consumer seeing them as commodities and
fungible In economics, fungibility is the property of a good or a commodity whose individual units are essentially interchangeable, and each of whose parts is indistinguishable from any other part. Fungible tokens can be exchanged or replaced; for exam ...
, thus lowering price potential. Thus having a unique selling point is essential to have a successful business that can handle current competition, as well as possible future comers in similar markets. The desktop personal-computer market provides one example with many manufacturers and the potential for new manufacturers at any time. Apple used the slogan "Beauty outside, Beast inside" for its
Mac Pro Mac Pro is a series of workstations and servers for professionals that are designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2006. The Mac Pro, by some performance benchmarks, is the most powerful computer that Apple offers. It is one of f ...
campaign to differentiate its product as "beautiful" compared with any other desktop computer. Buyers of this product were willing to pay a premium price, compared with technically similar desktop computers. Apple differentiates itself with a focus on aesthetics and cutting-edge technologies.
Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
's "Save money, live better" (Waiz, 2013). Wal-Mart is concerned with being the cheapest department store and with reminding customers that it's not how much one spends on a product that matters. This USP rests on strong, direct and concise messaging that gives consumers a clear picture of exactly what value they will receive for choosing a given brand or product. Something so simple that can attract customers like that and show the unique selling proposition of the business is what people look for.Entrepreneur. (No Date). ''Unique Selling Proposition (USP)''. Retrieved March 29th, 2016, from Entrepreneur: http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/unique-selling-proposition-usp
Marketing strategies Marketing strategy allows organizations to focus limited resources on best opportunities to increase sales and achieve a competitive advantage in the market. Strategic marketing emerged in the 1970s/80s as a distinct field of study, further buil ...
are very important for different companies to establish their identity and increase
market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those units would have a ...
. A good USP should target a specific audience. Furthermore, a USP should not only be unique, but also keep its promises in order to prove trustworthy.


Examples

The following are examples of Unique Selling Propositions. What is commonly considered a
slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...
is enhanced with a differentiating benefit of the product or service. Typically, the uniqueness is delivered by a unique process, ingredient, or system that produces the benefit described. *
Anacin Anacin is an American brand of analgesic that is manufactured by Prestige Consumer Healthcare. Its product contains aspirin and caffeine. History Anacin was invented by William Milton Knight and was first to be used circa 1916 as stated in the ...
"Fast, incredibly fast relief." In 1952, Rosser Reeves created a TV commercial that capitalized on Anacin's "special ingredient," caffeine, by suggesting limitations of other aspirin and repeating, three times, the differentiation proposition: ''fast''. *
M&M's M&M's (stylized as m&m's) are multi-colored button-shaped chocolates, each of which has the letter "m" printed in lower case in white on one side, consisting of a candy shell surrounding a filling which varies depending upon the variety of M&M ...
: "Melts in your mouth, not in your hand." 1954 M&Ms use a patented hard sugar coating that keeps chocolate from melting in one's hands, thus a chocolate soldiers could carry, compared to other brands. *
Head & Shoulders Head & Shoulders (H&S) is an American brand of anti-dandruff and non-dandruff shampoo produced by parent company Procter & Gamble. It was introduced in the United States on 1 January 1961 based in Manhattan and used the slogan THE AMERICA AND WORL ...
: "Clinically proven to reduce dandruff." 1961
Pyrithione Zinc Zinc pyrithione (or pyrithione zinc) is a coordination complex of zinc. It has fungistatic (inhibiting the division of fungal cells) and bacteriostatic (inhibiting bacterial cell division) properties and is used in the treatment of seborrhoeic d ...
was found, after 10 years of research, to be an ingredient that was actually effective in eliminating dandruff where other products were not effective. Adding the name "Shoulders" to the product name also indicated that the product eliminated the tell-tale white marks on clothing caused by dandruff flakes falling from the hair. *
Domino's Pizza Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino's Farms Office Park in Ann Arbor ...
: "You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less—or it's free." 1973-1993 "You Got 30 Minutes" 2007- Domino's uses what it calls the "make line" and other systems to make pizzas quickly. *
FedEx FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...
: "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight." 1978–1983. FedEx was the first company to specialize in overnight air freight and first to implement package tracking. This pioneering advantage was made possible by a new system outlined in the founder's 1965
Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
paper. *
Metropolitan Life MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, wi ...
: "Get Met. It Pays." 1984 Met's newer "Whole Life Policy" was a sales success for the company. The policy offered one-third more coverage, for the same price, and grew in cash value for a bigger "pay out" over time. In advertisements, Met compared buying the policy to buying a home. *
Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., typically referred to as Southwest, is one of the major airlines of the United States and the world's largest low-cost carrier. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and has scheduled service to 121 destinations in the U ...
: "We are THE low-fare airline."


See also

*
Advertising management Advertising management is a planned managerial process designed to oversee and control the various advertising activities involved in a program to communicate with a firm's target market and which is ultimately designed to influence the consum ...
*
Advertising campaign An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and conc ...
*
Integrated marketing communications Marketing Communications (MC, marcom(s), marcomm(s) or just simply communications) refers to the use of different marketing channels and tools in combination.Tomse, & Snoj, 2014 Marketing communication channels focus on how businesses communicate ...
*
Killer app In marketing terminology, a killer application (commonly shortened to killer app) is any computer program or software that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware, a video game ...
* Marketing communications *
Promotion (marketing) In marketing, promotion refers to any type of marketing communication used to inform target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or issue, most of the time persuasive in nature. It helps marketers to create a distinctive pl ...
*
Promotional mix In marketing, the promotional mix describes a blend of promotional variables chosen by marketers to help a firm reach its goals.Contemporary Marketing 2011 (textbook), Louis Boone, David Kurtz, Cengage Learning, Jan 1, 2010Elements of the promotion ...
*
Point of difference Point of difference refers to the factors of products or services that establish differentiation. Differentiation is the way in which the goods or services of a company differ from its competitors. Indicators of the point of difference's success w ...
: POD *
Competitive advantage In business, a competitive advantage is an attribute that allows an organization to outperform its competitors. A competitive advantage may include access to natural resources, such as high-grade ores or a low-cost power source, highly skilled ...


References

{{Reflist Advertising techniques Marketing techniques Promotion and marketing communications Uniqueness