Unique selling propo­si­tions – a product’s dis­tin­guish­ing features as the new recipe for success

By placing the so-called unique selling propo­si­tions at the heart of your marketing strategy, it is possible to stand out from others in an over­sat­u­rat­ed market and thereby push aside any possible com­pe­ti­tion. The concept in question has been first developed in 1940 and is still an important marketing tool and a source of success for numerous products and services.

What exactly hides behind the term that often denotes the secret for com­mer­cial success?

In times of over­sat­u­rat­ed markets and in­creas­ing ex­change­abil­i­ty, unique selling points are vital dis­tin­guish­ing features of various products or services when po­si­tion­ing, ad­ver­tis­ing, and selling them. This becomes es­pe­cial­ly important when facing strong op­po­si­tion on the market.

Rosser Reeves, the founding father of unique selling propo­si­tions, in­tro­duced the concept to marketing theory by defining it and putting it into practice in 1940 as a uniquely binding sales promise. According to him, USPs should be designed in such a way that un­der­ly­ing products and services will clearly stand out from similar, rival offers on the market. This is rep­re­sen­ta­tive of the extent to which both the pur­chas­ing decision and the buying impulse are triggered (provided, of course, that the offer is ap­pro­pri­ate­ly adjusted to the target group).

In 1961, Reeves published “Reality in Ad­ver­tis­ing” (Knopf, New York 1961) – a book ref­er­enced to this very day, in which he primarily suggests that ad­ver­tise­ments should clearly delineate why it is the product on offer and not its rivalling equiv­a­lent that should be acquired by each potential buyer. He also high­lights that USPs included within ad­ver­tise­ments must mirror the promises per­tain­ing to cor­re­spond­ing products or services. In other words, the offer cannot be in any way mis­lead­ing and must deliver the promised benefits when obtaining a product or service. Only then can a seller achieve lasting success. Reeves dis­tin­guish­es between two different types of unique selling points:

• Natural USPs: derive from a product, its char­ac­ter­is­tics, or its pro­duc­tion method
• Ar­ti­fi­cial USPs: at­trib­uted to products by means of ad­ver­tis­ing – also known as unique ad­ver­tis­ing propo­si­tion (UAP)

Reeves con­struct­ed the basic concepts for his theory while working for Ted Bates & Co. – an ad­ver­tis­ing agency based in New York. He re­peat­ed­ly attempted to present the unique selling propo­si­tions of his ad­ver­tised products in greater detail. He put them at the heart of his marketing strategy even during the US pres­i­den­tial campaign of 1952, when he suc­cess­ful­ly applied his marketing knowledge in the Re­pub­li­can camp to promote Dwight D. Eisen­how­er, who later became the 34th President of the United States as a con­se­quence. In the following years, pres­i­den­tial campaigns became more ad­ver­tise­ment-oriented as a result.

To ensure that unique selling propo­si­tions help achieve long-lasting success, three basic char­ac­ter­is­tics must be met:

• Target group ori­en­ta­tion: USPs must not only be tailored to a specific target group, but must also meet its needs
• Prof­itabil­i­ty: To stay prof­itable for a long time, USPs should not entail any high costs  
• Ability to last long: USPs must be able to hold their ground when con­fronting com­pe­ti­tion on the market

A unique selling propo­si­tion is generally worked out in four steps:

1. Set out a target group: The potential clientele must be clearly defined. Generally speaking, in order to get to the core of the public’s needs, target group members are divided according to decisive features such as age, pro­fes­sion, and in­di­vid­ual tastes.
2. Find the source of the public’s main problems: It is worth stepping into the shoes of the potential client to learn more about various problems and wishes. Existing customers should also be in­ter­viewed, if possible.
3. Specify how offers differ from each other: All product- or service-specific offers of a given market should be then listed and filtered out to find those that meet the needs of the defined target group in the best possible way. In this way, offers coming from the com­pe­ti­tion’s ad­ver­tis­ing campaigns are analyzed, on the basis of which it is possible to determine which product features are left out from the com­peti­tor’s offer.
4. Define USPs: USPs should be defined in the shortest and most com­pre­hen­si­ble form possible.

Nowadays, unique selling points of a product or service are an in­sep­a­ra­ble part of the marketing and branding strate­gies that we see around us. They are applied to various sectors as a result.

Phase 3: This phase rep­re­sents the tran­si­tion period between strong growth and market sat­u­ra­tion. Since no new customers can be gained, it is about not losing market shares in the face of com­pe­ti­tion. If sales increases are no longer possible, the market is said to be saturated.

Phase 4: This phase is char­ac­ter­ized by market sat­u­ra­tion whereby sales come to a stand­still and the com­pe­ti­tion becomes fierce and predatory as a result. To extend this phase, some product suppliers revise their offers to make them­selves stand out from com­peti­tors for an extended time.

Phase 5: A sig­nif­i­cant drop in sales and turnover occurs in this final phase and com­peti­tors begin to bring newer offers into the market. Suppliers ideally prepare for this phase long before it comes into effect by either replacing their offers with new versions or leaving the market al­to­geth­er.

SWOT analysis is often used to identify the strengths, weaknesses, oppor­tu­ni­ties, and threats related to various business ac­tiv­i­ties in the presence of com­pe­ti­tion. One is therefore able to determine which areas show signs of possible business op­por­tu­ni­ties and in which areas it is necessary to protect the company from com­pet­i­tive risks. By means of the SWOT model, it is possible to formulate unique selling propo­si­tions in such a way that producers react quickly to market op­por­tu­ni­ties.

Example: Small busi­ness­es can hardly compete with larger com­peti­tors on the pro­duc­tion and delivery speed fronts. For this reason, their strengths usually lie in personal con­sul­ta­tion and greater flex­i­bil­i­ty.

USPs can differ in many different ways.

Time saving USPs

Products are man­u­fac­tured and delivered in short time spans, whereas services are quickly executed. The time factor plays an essential role and is ideally suited for a unique selling propo­si­tion. This is used, for example, in fast food chains such as McDonalds or in delivery services promising express shipping.

Customer service-oriented USPs

A hotline available 24 hours a day, products guar­an­tee­ing either full sat­is­fac­tion, money-back options, or free repairs – these and many other services are con­sid­ered excellent unique selling points. However, for the USP to have a desired effect, it is required that no other company (either in your proximity or within the same industry in which you operate) offers similar services.

En­vi­ron­men­tal com­pat­i­bil­i­ty

Rising eco­log­i­cal awareness is becoming an in­creas­ing­ly important factor. Sus­tain­ably-produced goods, aban­don­ment of in­gre­di­ents from ques­tion­able sources, or even en­vi­ron­men­tal­ly-friendly tech­nolo­gies are nowadays ideally suited to stand out from the offers of your com­peti­tors. A good example is Toyota’s recent Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) system, which combines both a com­bus­tion engine and an electric motor, thereby reducing fuel con­sump­tion and exhaust emissions.

Secret recipe

The biggest product-related secret is usually its list of in­gre­di­ents. In this way, Coca Cola managed to create a suc­cess­ful unique selling point over the years. Its strength lies in the fact that it is not possible to copy a product. Recipe-oriented USPs can therefore work on a company-wide scale. Perhaps the best example of this are products with an assigned ge­o­graph­i­cal in­di­ca­tion, which are con­se­quent­ly protected by various rights (Mexico’s tequila for example).

Product ex­clu­siv­i­ty

Emotional values such as ex­clu­siv­i­ty and prestige also play an important role when trying to convince potential clients to buy various products. For instance, why is it that a specific brand of en­gage­ment rings, let’s say Cartier, is so crucial to some people, when other, less common jewelers have equally beautiful and high quality jewelry? The French company used as an example here simply enjoys a better rep­u­ta­tion among con­nois­seurs.

Price

Not all in­dus­tries make it possible for their un­der­ly­ing busi­ness­es to stand out from com­pe­ti­tion by means of services offered at lower prices. However, in­dus­tries such as those offering passenger transport can certainly avail of such USPs (low-cost airlines).

USPs can sig­nif­i­cant­ly increase the demand for your products and services. The most basic pre­req­ui­site is that the dis­tin­guish­ing features of what you have on offer should satisfy the needs of your target group. It is for this reason that a detailed target group analysis is deemed essential when striving for business success. You therefore need to place the unique selling points of your products at the heart of your marketing campaign. Now, you must rely on the consumer to discover and promote the unique selling points for you.

The safest practice en­com­pass­es a clear ad­ver­tis­ing campaign, which high­lights both the unique­ness and the ad­van­tages tied to your offer. To achieve long-lasting success, it is necessary to keep an eye on the reaction of com­peti­tors. In this way, you can also react in a quick manner and adapt or readapt your offer as soon as your direct com­peti­tors begin to offer similar products and services.