NORTHERN PLANNER

 Rosser Reeves gets some stick these days. Mostly from being the father of the Unique Selling Proposition.

Maybe the USP is outdated, but my own point of view is that you should always find something unique about you offering.

 Byron Sharp’s work corroborates this  – brands need to build distinctive memory structures and so on.

That doesn’t always have to be product function of course, but it should have some relevance to what the product is, what it does, who makes it, why it was made, who it’s made for or how it’s made, how it makes you feel or what it does for you.

Even all that great Cultural Strategy work tells us we need to make our work relevant to what we’re offering or it’s just not credible.

Even the Gorilla was linked to the truth about product experience – joy.

In fact, I’m useless at writing and should leave it to perhaps the greatest, or at least the one who delivered the truth with wit and charm, David Abbott. “Say something about the product in a way that cannot be missed”.

Colour Like No Other.

Some people hate our product but those that love it, really love it.

Our cars are reliable.

Our car has a clever remote controlled start.

We all know the basics, build distinctive fame, reach as many buyers as possible, remove reasons not to buy, outspend market share to grow it, but get a disproportionate return by investing in creative work that moves people and gets talked about.

But these are still general rules. Success comes from being specific, about what makes your brand unique. 

The USP isn’t dead, that's just the excuse of the lazy to try kill it off. The ones who just work to soft brand scores rather than shifting unit. 

Unique propositions, unique problems, unique solutions.