Category: Unique Selling Proposition

In my last article, 4 Lessons About Unique Selling Propositions from the Man Who Made the Concept Popular, I revealed the four important things that Rosser Reeves said about USPs.

Today, instead of trying to teach you more about unique selling propositions, I thought I’d give you some examples of some powerful ones.

Some you might have heard of, some you haven’t. Some are USPs for new companies, some are for old brands.

Either way, if you study them closely, you’ll walk away with a deeper understanding of how to make your marketing or your brand stand out from your competition.

14 Famous Unique Selling Propositions Examples

I’ve shared a brief comment with each of these examples below.

But I want you to read these unique selling propositions with the four things that Reeves revealed in mind. That way, you will make your own discoveries and uncover your own insights.

1. Dominos Pizza – Old delivery guarantee: “30 minutes or it’s free.”

My Comment: This was a claim that no one else was making back then. If you were hungry and you wanted food now, then you knew where to get it.

2. NerdFitness.com – “We help nerds, misfits and mutants lose weight, get strong and get healthy permanently!”

My Comment: When most gyms are trying to attract athletes, they focused on a neglected group.

3. GEICO – “15 minutes could save you 15 percent or more on car insurance.”

My Comment: The genius of this claim is that it’s clear, simple, and very specific.

4. FedEx – Old guarantee: “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.“

My Comment: When this claim was first made, it was an unheard of promise. And it was a promise that solved the need of many business people.

5. Schiltz Beer – Old campaign: They had a campaign that is now known as the “Purity” campaign. The campaigned basically went into detail about their brewing process. It explained the care that went into each step. It explained the science behind each step. It revealed all of the things that were meant to show why Schlitz was a “pure” beer.

My Comment: They were the first to point out things that many of the competitors also did. By claiming these things first, they stood out.

6. 7UP – Old slogan “The uncola.”

My Comment: Instead of trying to be like their competitors, they decided to emphasize what made them different.

7. Robinhood – “Investing for everyone.”

My Comment: Now that they’ve been in the news recently, I think this promise is stronger than ever.

8. Warby Parker – “Try 5 pairs for free at home.”

My Comment: They decided to address the problem that most people had: the difficulty of finding the right pair of glasses.

9. Head & Shoulders – “Clinically proven up to 100% dandruff protection.”

My Comment: They choose to be known for something that many other shampoos didn’t even talk about.

10. Palmolive Dishwashing Liquid – Old slogan: “It softens your hands while you do the dishes.”

My Comment: This slogan stood out because it suddenly made dishwashing liquid have a whole new purpose.

11. The Economist – “You’ve seen the news, why not discover the story.”

My Comment: I like this because it suggests that you’ll learn the behind-the-scenes stories that you won’t get anywhere else.

12. Tiffany & Co – “The right one is worth waiting for.”

My Comment: This is a creative way to express a double entendre that express their uniqueness and the uniqueness of the person you’re purchasing the jewelry for.

13. Ben & Jerry’s – “We make the best possible ice cream in the best possible way.”

My Comment: This is a great way to continue to remind consumers that they make amazing ice cream with a powerful purpose behind it.

14. Tuesday Morning – When this store first began, it was literally only open on Tuesdays.

My Comment: When most stores were trying to be more available, they chose a different strategy. By limiting the times customers could purchase from them, they stood out in the marketplace and made their company more memorable and desirable.

If you have any examples that I didn’t include, feel free to list them in the comments below.

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The 4th Marketing Fundamental You Need to Succeed in 2021

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How to Create a Truly Unique Selling Proposition

I’m about to reveal to you some things about creating a unique selling proposition that most of your competitors don’t know. Once you understand these things, it will help you to create a USP that is many times more powerful than your competition.

But in order to do that, you first need to know about the man behind the concept.

Rosser Reeves: The Man Behind One of the Most Important Activities Companies Must Constantly Engage In

Theodore Levitt, a professor at Harvard Business School, once described the importance of differentiation with these powerful words…

“Differentiation is one of the most important strategic and tactical activities in which companies must constantly engage.”

Do you know what I find so interesting about the concept of a unique selling proposition or point of difference?

Many companies these days think they understand the concept, but they don’t know the origin of the term.

And for that reason, they really don’t grasp the full meaning and potential of the concept.

I don’t want you to be like these companies that only know the general concept. I want you to understand the full meaning and power behind a unique selling proposition.

To do that, you need to know about the man who coined the term USP.

Who Was Rosser Reeves?

He was an American advertising executive who was a pioneer of television advertising. How good was he at what he did? Well, he generated millions for his clients.

Do you know what I’d say his own personal USP was?

He didn’t think companies should advertise just for name recognition. Instead, he believed the purpose of advertising is to sell.

In fact, he insisted that the purpose of an ad or commercial was to show off the value or unique selling proposition of a product.

He didn’t think that the purpose of an ad or commercial was just to be funny or clever.

So, what did Rosser Reeves actually say about the unique selling proposition? I found this quote below from him. In it, he shares some powerful thoughts about a USP.

Let me share this quote about the USP and then I’ll share some insights we can glean from it…

The Powerful Thing Rosser Reeves Said About the Unique Selling Proposition

“Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: ‘Buy this product and you will get this specific benefit.’ The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer. It must be unique-either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising. The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions; i.e., pull over new customers to your product.” Photo by Matvey99 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,

4 Lessons About Unique Selling Propositions from the Man Who Made the Concept Popular

Now let me reveal four lessons we can learn from what Reeves said. To do that, let’s look closely at four things he said about USPs:

1. It should promise a specific benefit.

The mistake that some companies make is they don’t make any promise at all to their prospects. The mistake that other companies make is that they make a vague promise.

Why is that a problem? Because vague promises don’t stand out. How could they? When something is communicated in an unfocused or imprecise way, then its meaning isn’t clear.

Something unclear doesn’t stand out. Only a specific promise does.

If you want to harness the power of the 4th marketing fundamental, you need to make a specific promise to your prospects. That’s the first way to stand out and be different in the marketplace.

2. It must contain a claim the competition can’t or doesn’t offer.

Another mistake that some companies make is they just copy the promises of every other company in the market. That will never make a company different.

That means you need to start by asking and answering some important questions:

– What are all the claims that your competition is making in the marketplace?
– Is there a common theme? Are they trying to solve a common problem or relieve a common pain?
– What claim is not being made in the marketplace that your company can honestly make or that can be made about your product or service?
– What is the gap or blind spot that is being overlooked by your competitors? Is there a way to relieve the problems or pain in the marketplace that isn’t being offered? Or is there a problem or pain that is not being focused on at all?

If you feel stuck trying to answer these questions, then the next point might help.

3. It must express a uniqueness of the brand or the claim being made.

If you don’t feel like you can make a unique claim, in what other ways can your brand stand out?

You see, a unique claim is not the only way that your company, product, or service can be different and stand out. The other way is through your brand.

What makes your brand different than the others? You might not think that there are many ways to make your brand stand out, but there are actually 9 different ways you can do that.

I’m don’t have the time to go over all 9 of the different ways, but I will share three of them with you:

• Personality or Brand – Who is the founder/CEO of your company or who represents your company? Do they make your company different? Examples: Steve Jobs & Wendy’s
• Backstory –The story of how the company (or founder) got into this particular line of business. Examples: TOMs Shoes or Clif Bar
• Experience – The experience people get from buying or using your product or service to get the end result they want. Examples: Disneyland and any “high end” restaurant

Hopefully, these will give you some ideas to get you started.

4. The claim must be strong enough to move the masses.

Wow. Now that’s setting the bar high, isn’t it? But before you just dismiss this completely, let’s think about what it says for a minute.

I think the key point is that you shouldn’t focus on a claim about your product or brand that just moves one person or a few people. You want to find one that hits the nerve of a large amount of people.

In other words, you want to find a claim that speaks to a universal need, desire, pain, or goal in the marketplace.

Look, I’ll admit something to you. It might not always be possible for you to literally come up with a unique selling proposition that moves the masses.

But if you don’t aim that high, you’ll fall so short of the power that the unique selling proposition could bring to your company and its marketing.

Now that you know the original concept of the unique selling proposition, you have insight that many companies have overlooked, which means you now have the opportunity to use it in a way that your competitors have no clue is even possible.

My hope is that you’ll take this insight and implement it to the fullest. By the way, if and when you do implement it, I’d love to hear about it.

If you missed my previous article, you can check it out at the link below:

The 4th Marketing Fundamental You Need to Succeed in 2021

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On the first Monday in January, I began a series called “The 12 Marketing Fundamentals You Need to Succeed in 2021.“

In my first article of the series, I laid an important foundation that I will continue to build on. In that article I said…

Based on some things I’ve been reading from the experts I follow, there are some interesting trends and predictions that are said to be coming our way in 2021. 

These trends and predictions will be opportunities for people that know how to leverage them.

But I believe that the sweet spot in 2021 is the place where opportunity and the fundamentals meet. 

You see, the people and companies that succeed the most are the ones that keep their eye out for opportunities and then take advantage of them by harnessing the fundamentals. 

What fundamentals? The marketing fundamentals that have existed for at least 100 years and that will probably exist for at least another 100 years. 

-Scott Aughtmon, The 12 Marketing Fundamentals You Need to Succeed in 2021.

The First 3 Marketing Fundamentals:

The three marketing fundamentals that I’ve revealed so far are:

1.  The first marketing fundamental is attention. Because without attention, there is no marketing.
2.  The second marketing fundamental is attraction. Without attraction, all the work you put into capturing their attention will be wasted.
3. The third marketing fundamental is follow-up. Because two of the biggest mistakes many companies make are tied to follow-up. They don’t follow-up at all. They don’t follow-up enough.

The 4th Marketing Fundamental You Need to Succeed in 2021

The fourth marketing fundamental that you’re going to need in 2021 is the one that really has an impact on all of the marketing fundamentals I’ve revealed so far.

And honestly, it probably impacts all the fundamentals I’m still going to reveal.

What is the fourth marketing fundamental? It’s your unique selling proposition or USP. Some call this your point of difference or POD.

Whatever you call it, it’s a marketing fundamental you can’t overlook. Why?

Because if you’re ever going to have any chance of your prospects choosing your company, product, or service over your competition, then they have to understand something important.

Your prospects have to know WHY and HOW your business is different and better than any of the other choices.

I have two situations for you to imagine to help you see the need for this.

SITUATION #1

Imagine that you’re thirsty and want to buy a bottle of water. Now imagine a whole crowd of people who all look and sound similar. They are even dressed similarly.

They are all yelling your name, holding up water bottles, and telling you they have what you want! Which one are you going to choose?

It’s hard to decide, isn’t it? It’s actually pretty confusing. You’ll probably pick the closest and/or the loudest one.

Let’s look at the next situation and see how different it is…

SITUATION #2

Now imagine the same situation and the same crowd yelling out the same things. But suddenly you look closer at the crowd and you see one guy who is dressed differently.

He’s yelling your name too, but he’s saying something different. He’s telling you that his water is chilled at exactly 40ºF to make it extremely refreshing. He tells you that the others are just at room temperature.

He also tells you that his water comes from a pure spring at the top of a mountain and is filtered to remove any impurities. He tells you that even though it is filtered, it still maintains the important minerals your body needs.

He also mentions that all of the others are offering just filtered and bottled tap water. He tells you that his water is priced at the same as the others, but that it will be much more refreshing and helpful for your body.

Which one are you going to choose now? The one guy who is different! Why? Because you know why/how what he is offering is different and better than the others.

This is what it’s like when we make it clear to our prospects why/how we’re different from the competition.

The Van with the Generic Sign

Many years ago, I was driving through a city and saw a van with a generic sign on its door that just said, “Air conditioning and heating service.’ It also had a phone number on the sign that you could call.

I couldn’t believe that was all it said! Did they think someone who needed that service was going to see the van a scream, “YES! I finally found an A/C and heating service!” And then call them right away?

In a small town, with no competition for miles around, that might work. But it’s not going to work in most other areas! Why didn’t this guy at least have his name on A/C & heating sign? Something at least like, “Steve Smith’s A/C& Heating service?”

Better yet, why didn’t this guy ALSO have something on the sign that explained how his service was unique. He could’ve had something like, “We offer the guaranteed best-priced services that are fully guaranteed for 1 year!”

That would’ve been much more powerful and attractive to prospects looking for his services. My prediction is that his business is no longer in existence.

Successful companies make it very clear that their companies are different than the competition. They clearly spell out how their product or service is better/different.

If you want your company to have a chance of succeeding, then prospects must know how you’re different than other companies selling the same things.

USP or POD Applied to the Other Fundamentals

But remember what I said earlier? I said that this also applies to the previous marketing fundamentals. Well, think about that for a second and then answer these questions:

• If you want to capture attention, do you think something different or the same will do it best?
• If you want to capture attraction, do you think something different or the same will do it best?
• If you want to capture attention with your follow-up, do you think something different or the same will do it best?

You know the answer.

Do you now see why I’ve said a USP or POD is so important?
I’ve mentioned the importance of your prospects knowing how your company or product is different or better is than the competition.

But the reality is that in this world that’s crowded with competition in every vertical, one of these things is more important than the other.

The short video below gives a pretty powerful argument as to why different is better than better.

Sally Hoghead – Why Different is Better Than Better

VIDEO DESCRIPTION: It’s no longer enough to be good, or better, or even the best. Now the question is…what makes you DIFFERENT? Sally Hogshead, New York Times Bestselling author, Hall of Fame Speaker, and creator of the Fascinate test speaks on the subject of why DIFFERENT is better than BETTER.

Want to Catch Up on This Series?

Have you missed my other articles and want to catch up? You can go to this page I’ve created for the series.

In case you’re wondering, there are now 18 previous articles in this series. Don’t miss when my article goes live. Subscribe below now.

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