The first appearance of this was seen in an advertising campaign of the 1940s, it turned out to be pretty successful. It was a television advertising pioneer from the Ted Bates & Company. Mr. Rosser Reave is the one who gave this term.
How did USP bring a change?
USP actually involves the unique benefit which the company provides in its product, service or brand which other competitors won’t provide. It always revolves around the specific highlights which makes the company product different from the others. It works very well in grabbing customers by making them feel the superiority and need of the particular product.
The changes were brought in the following ways:
Nowadays every advertisement always makes a proposition for the customer or the buyer. It states the unique proposition that the brand makes for the buyer.
The proposition should be one that any other competitor could not provide.
The proposition should be appealing and strong enough to hit the masses on their conscience. It should create a buzz for the product.
Importance of USP
When it comes to the creation of advertising campaigns the USP of a product cannot be overlooked. This is so because there is no clearer way to make the buyers understand the differences between two rival products. This help in comparison can give rise to a positive attitude in a brand’s recall values among the customers.
There are many types of categories for classifying the categories of goods but there are more than an option in a category. So the USP is a campaigning method to make your product stand out among the similar products in the category which are termed as competition. This is applicable for the future also.
Determining the USP
Any brand can develop their own USP by conducting a deep and detailed research with the category and the consumers of the product. One of the most important things is to be able to locate a proper market space which the person wants to be affected by the USP. The necessity of setting the USP to be something which is very unique and stands out is very high. This is so because it is supposed to be the reference point of the differential properties the product can provide. It must be highlighting key features of the product or service which the customers could avail by availing the product or service. The USP should be patent enough and it hardly matters if it’s differences are noticeable or not but must be brought onto the customer’s front.
Examples of USP
Here are some of the most prominent examples of companies and their USP’s, which affected the market with it:
- Domino’s Pizza – Being a pizza making business dominos did not opt for the USP to be framed around the taste of the pizza because it was a thing which varied person to person. Instead they made it clear that they would provide home delivery of it within 30 minutes otherwise they would give the pizza for free. Two major problems were shown to be solved here. Firstly people got Pizza at their doorstep and it would be on time otherwise in their interest they would get pizza free of cost.
- M&M’s – They solved a major problem with their USP. It was that they stopped chocolate from melting by putting a coat of hard sugar above it. This made it easier to carry than other chocolates. Moreover they pulled off a very clever strategy by patenting hard sugar coating of chocolates. Their tagline complemented their USP which was “Melts in your mouth, not in your hands.”
Conclusion
The USP of a product decides it’s survival in the market. Apart from the quality of the product the customers get drawn towards a product which has better benefits than its competitors . If the unique quality of the product is expressed well through their USP the increase in revenue would be quite visible. A proper USP accompanied with great advertisement helps the product in making a place for itself. In every market space having a huge competition ,a company needs a good USP to stand out and make itself appealing to the customer there. Since it has been discovered USP has grown to become a very important concept in the market.