[SteveGibson]

Originally Posted by Calibre Designs

Top of my head :

Pizzahut "there within 30mins or its on the house".

They clearly nicked that from Dominos who had:

"Hot, fresh pizza delivered to your doorstep in 30 minutes or it's free."

(but Dominos haven't used that USP for at least 10 years)

Rosser Reeves was the guy who came up with the whole "unique selling proposition" thing and it was effective for TV ads i.e. a medium which wasn't asking for an immediate response and where you were restricted in the number of words you could use.

Therefore slogans - I think he came up with "melts in your mouth, not in your hand" - with a single sales point made a lot of sense.

(people can copy your benefits, but they can't copy your slogan - though if Kayis right about Pizza Hut...)

With longer form media (e.g. salesletters or websites), you'll probably do better with a combination of benefits which are explained in detail.

Just my 2p,

Steve

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... a duplicate..ignore...

[admagic]

Originally Posted by SteveGibson

They clearly nicked that from Dominos who had:

"Hot, fresh pizza delivered to your doorstep in 30 minutes or it's free."

(but Dominos haven't used that USP for at least 10 years)

Rosser Reeves was the guy who came up with the whole "unique selling proposition" thing and it was effective for TV ads i.e. a medium which wasn't asking for an immediate response and where you were restricted in the number of words you could use.

Therefore slogans - I think he came up with "melts in your mouth, not in your hand" - with a single sales point made a lot of sense.

(people can copy your benefits, but they can't copy your slogan - though if Kayis right about Pizza Hut...)

With longer form media (e.g. salesletters or websites), you'll probably do better with a combination of benefits which are explained in detail.

Just my 2p,

Steve

The interesting thing is WHY dominos dropped the

"Hot pizza in 15 minutes or its free"

USP...they ended up in serious trouble for being deemed to cause a spate of serious road accidents, which even went beyond civil law....the feds considered that they were inciting the delivery scooter drivers to break the law!!!

Theres a big difference between a tag-line and a USP.

Basically a USP is simple. It is the answer to the question

"why should I do business with you over anyone else"

...that can be the product, it can be the deal...a unique set of bonusess with the product.

And whilst it can be part of a tag line..it is not a tag line..so I dont count "remembered for quality" as a USP...in fact worse than that - everyone will say they offer the best service and quality - so that is no use at all.

One thing I urged a client to do who was offering a vehicle accessory product, was to produce the video installation DVD - to differentiate the fact that he was offering exactly the same product - and things like this work!!

Whilst that product wasnt a car stereo, you only have to look at how many people search the phrase "how to install a car stereo" and similar, to realise if you sell the stereos, you will make a mint by being the company who gives that info in the easiest form

That was a true USP.

I urge everyone to consider, what information products they can give with their service or product to differentiate themselves.

Affiliate marketers are fond of packaging up massive sets of additional bonuses to differentiate the fact that they are offering exactly the same thing.

Carl galletti amongst information marketers has specialised at this.
He made a mint from ADWORDS and JV...by offering john reeses traffic secrets..with a headline "dont buy john reeses traffic secrets until you have read this"...in which he offered massive bonuses to any who bough through him This has now got out of hand...as you will have seen if you were on any of the lists that promoted frank kerns "mind control" seminars... I must have got 10 different offers for that..

USPs dont have to be dramatic to make a difference.

- A Simple USP which works in many commodity markets is
the 110% price difference guarantee..it costs almost nothing over a price guarantee but is seen as so much more.
and if you are £10 more expensive, how does it hurt to give £11 back??

This area of guarantees is always worth exploring to give clear blue water between you and competition

- a competition entry as part of the deal on a standard product can work well if the prize looks good

- a great USP from the car sales industry are a couple of dealers who are willing to give a 2 week "if you dont like it you can change it" Most dealers dont have the balls to try it - but the dramatic volume increase in sales, can offset the loss of a few K on the 10% who take them up on the swap.

- an ad for a lawn service "the first cut is free!" did very well.

In the end a USP is normally has a one shot effect to the extent that your USP gets them into the business, What happens then, is about whether you deliver on your promises, your service and so on

To me a USP always has to be a specific customer benefit for dealing with the business. And "specific" is important.
wishy washy stuff about service or quality doesnt cut it....unless it can be made specific.

In constructing your USP...always ask the queston "which means???" or "so what?" or "so how does that affect me?""to get at the heart.

eg why should I buy your settee?

ans -because it is highest quality

qu - which means?

its made of the best materials

qu which means...

ans it looks nicer for longer, its more hardwearing

qu which means??

that means I can guarantee it for 3 years.. , the others cant.

There is the USP.

turn the general into the specific.

For anyone that has seen it, I love the way Brett Mcfall does this on stage...using his character "mr obnoxious"... to be
the customer from hell,who wont let go,until you have told him precisely why he should do business you. He leaves the business owner like a jelly afterwards. But the process works to extract an answer.

[Calibre Designs]

Thank you very much for that.
Certainly food for thought there!!

Kay

[admagic]

Somebody just asked me privately what I think is a very important question to air in public.

Do I agree that not all businesses can have a USP???

And I answer like this...

So If I came to you and said ...Ahhh! so there is no reason to come to you, so I might as well go to cheaper competition.

I am sure you would argue, you would tell me all the benefits of your service over any other company.

So no I disagree! every business has to communicat the answer to the question why me!

And to those who doubt it is possible, I would like to tell you a story.

A famous brewery many years ago in the states commissioned a copywriter to write an ad. And after looking at the product, the price, and everything else, he could find NOTHING different.

However, on his tour of the brewery, he saw that there were tens of processes designed to purify the water and beer.

So he wrote one of the most compelling sales messages ever written, that stressed the 50 steps that made xyz beer pure..

It took the brewery from oblivion to the top 5 on the US sales in a year.

Some jackass of an executive 10 years later decided he had got bored with that ad, and commissioned an ad agency to produce one of those pretty image ads instead.

And the brewery sank back to oblivion!!! never again to be a world force.


The other brewers were ANGRY.. they all used the very same process...but TOUGH ! they were only that brewery had put it in print!!!!

SO the moral of the story???

YOu may not be the only company that offers hot pizza in 15 minutes.
You may not be the only one that has a purity process
YOu may not be the only one that offers a guarantee.

If you are the only one the customer can SEE offering that deal, process or guarantee, it is still a USP!!

So your USP is relative to the competition in the media you use.

It is not an absolute thing.

Let me tell you...the accountant that thinks that stops writingall that cr*p about how long they have been in business, the qualifications of their partners departments and so on and in their YELLOW PAGES ad,
realises that the name of the company is NOT a headline

And writes an ad that says

"Free guide on 10 tax saving tips that saved our small business owners - an averageof £1249 last year"
Tips updated monthly - so sign up on our website or ring xxxxxxx

Will clean up in that market.

Since that would be a USP relative to the ads in that directory
Which are all as boring as hell!!