Know-How Exchange : Branding

The USP is a key benefit differentiator strategy and is still being used effectively today although “whiter and brighter” are generic USP claims and really don’t carry as much meaning today (see link and excerpt)

https://www.marketing-ideas.org/unique-selling-proposition-731525.php?I=123...

“In 1961, Rosser Reeves published his classic book Reality in Advertising in which he introduced the notion of the Unique Selling Proposition, or USP.

According to Reeves, there are three requirements for a USP (and I am quoting, in the italics, from Reality in Advertising directly):

1. Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Each must say, "Buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit."

Your headline must contain a benefit — a promise to the reader.

2. The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer.

Here’s where the "unique" in Unique Selling Proposition comes in. It is not enough merely to offer a benefit. You must also differentiate your product.

3. The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions, i.e., pull over new customers to your product.”

In 1981 Al Ries and Jack Trout described how positioning is used as a communications strategy. Whereas, USP used benefits, positioning uses place – or more specifically a place on a hierarchy in a customers mind. Which is why USP statements never use numbers and positioning statements sometimes use numbers

Number One in …
Number Two, Trying Harder

https://www.quickmba.com/marketing/ries-trout/positioning/

Hope this helps

I was in a hurry yesterday and felt I didn’t clarify how USP and positioning can work together, sort of.

In a case study for cold medicines, most products claimed the same USP – treating cold symptoms like runny nose, sneeze, cough, congestion etc. A new product was introduced and offered a new USP – NyQuil brand cold medicine for night time use. Now this was more than just a new USP because night time use was a new territory. Claiming a new territory based on a USP would REPOSITION all other cold medicines as day time solutions and ONLY NyQuil would own the night time position. Of course, over time others copied NyQuil’s night time position, but they were always followers. I don’t have any data, but it wouldn’t surprise me if NyQuil is still the number one brand for night time use. What’s important here is that the USP was also a new claimable territory strong enough to base a new positioning statement on.

Hope this further clarifies things for you.