Unique Selling Proposition? … Feggedaboutit!
Training for Media Professionals. (and Business Owners)
From the dusty Chronicles of Roy H. Williams
USP is one of those terms that I desperately avoid using. Like so many of advertising’s Most Popular Phrases, “Unique Selling Proposition” tends to promise what it cannot deliver. Here’s how the fiasco usually begins:
Ad Pro: “What is true of your company that is not true of your competitors?”
Client: “Blah, blah, blah.”
Ad Pro: “Great! This is what we advertising professionals call a ‘Unique Selling Proposition.’ It’s what we’re going to use to eviscerate your competition and dominate your category.”
Client: “Eviscerate and dominate yes, that’s exactly what we want to do to those evil competitors. And while we’re at it, can we also steal all their customers and drive them into bankruptcy?”
Ad Pro: “Certainly. Because now we have a Strategic Marketing Plan and a USP.”
The client, fully convinced that he does in fact have a Unique Selling Proposition, now expects you to deliver on all those glowing promises you made. After all, didn’t you essentially say that only an idiot would buy from any company other than his? And didn’t you say that Radio (or TV depending on the Ad Pro) was exactly the right medium for his product and that your station reached precisely the right people? Congratulations! You have not only painted yourself into a corner, but you were good enough to supply the paint.
When this client’s campaign fails due to weak copy, too little frequency, a schedule that was too short or competitors that are too strong, the only thing that will be clear in the client’s mind is that “either Radio (or TV) is the wrong medium for my business or this station is not reaching the right people.” There’s just no way the problem could be within his own company, because you said he had a Unique Selling Proposition, remember?
The Unique Selling Proposition has three Inherent Frailties:
1. Too often, the client’s selling proposition isn’t at all “unique,” since it has been effectively duplicated by all of the company’s competitors. Really, how often do competitors allow a meaningful advantage to be monopolized by a single company?
2. The element that is “unique” is often not a selling proposition because the customer doesn’t care. Too many USPs are the answer to a question that no one was asking.
3. Often, the public perception of a company is in radical disagreement with its CEO’s firmly held belief. It’s hard to read the label when you’re inside the bottle. The rep who introduced the idea of the USP usually gets blamed for the campaign’s failure. Do yourself and your clients a favour: Quit using superlatives like “unique” when they don’t apply to the situation. Not every client has a Unique Selling Proposition. In addition, be aware of all the different ways an ad campaign can fail, and have the courage to talk openly about these possibilities with your client.
Lastly, if you have concerns about the power of your client’s message, be sure to express these concerns BEFORE you take his money. If you don’t find the courage until after the campaign fails, “now you’re just making excuses.”
Advertising
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