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Death of the Unique Selling Proposition

Written by: Michael Reining

Article Overview: As marketers, we always talk about the unique selling proposition. What benefits and features make my product so unique that it stands out in the marketplace? The question you probably ask yourself every time you want to launch a new product is this: How do I stand out when I am in the midst of a sea of products – offering the same features and benefits? What are the alternatives to a dying USP?

Death of the Unique Selling Proposition

As marketers, we always talk about the unique selling proposition. What benefits and features make my product so unique that it stands out in the marketplace?

However, the market has become saturated. Today, the USP has become almost meaningless.

How many products out there have the same features? Let's take for example, shoes. From Nike, to Puma, to Adidas. All these shoes can make you jump higher… accelerate your athletic abilities…but what's the big deal? How different can a shoelace be? Is there really a unique feature? That's the first thing I learned when I joined advertising - that the USP is dead.

We're in a new capitalist era in which we are bombarded with new products and new businesses exploding everyday in a sea of competitors. The key here is to highlight and amplify the differences between products in the same niche.

The question you probably ask yourself every time you want to launch a new product is this: How do I stand out when I am in the midst of a sea of products – offering the same features and benefits?
What are the alternatives to a dying USP?

The USP has transitioned into the UEP - the unique emotional proposition. The progression has gone from "what does this product do?" to "how does this product make me feel?"

With the exception of perhaps technical products - where technological advances often do have a USP, UEP is becoming increasingly more and more important.

But do you know what? UEPs are already common in the branding world! As the UEP becomes saturated, a new marketing trend is emerging; the USP that gets you asking, "Who I Am?" It's the unique spiritual proposition.

However, most people won't reach this level in the next few years, but a lot of good branding you see has the U-Spiritual-P edge and this will likely become more common in future.

The progression from 'how I feel' to 'who I am' - defining one's inner being - is almost subtle:

USP (what does this product do?) ->

UEP (what does this product make me feel?) ->

USP (how does this product determine who I am?).

Let's go back to the shoe example. You don't hear pitches like 'these shoes make you 100% faster', or '1000% more productivity with your feet'. No, marketing now taps into one's inner core.

* Nike says: Just do it.
* Adidas: Impossible is nothing.
* And even Reebok: I am what I am.

The key now is, don't only think of a USP for your products. Always come up with a UEP as well. It's the only way to keep abreast of today's online market.

Related Articles
  How To Do Effective Local Marketing & Advertising
  How to Have a Unique Selling Proposition for you Online Affiliate Marketing Business
  Developing a Value Proposition
  Match Your Message To Your Market - A Unique Selling Proposition
  Are You In Search of the Unique

Article Tags: athletic abilities, marketers, marketing trend, marketplace, midst, new businesses, new marketing, niche, nike, shoelace, shoes, technological advances, uep, unique selling proposition, usp



Related Forum Posts
Re: This is Marketing Warfare! - Hey GT, I guess this was from a while back, and it'll test your memory a bit but could you possibly elaborate on Unique Selling Proposition? Can you give us some examples of good USPs?
Re: Readers, Money or SEO? Which comes first? - [quote="WebBizIdeas.com":35az7o03]Hi Chris, Do you have any great PR strategies to share? [/quote:35az7o03] Be different. Its hard to promote anything that doesn't have strong Unique Selling Points. Read 'Purple Cow' by Seth Godin for inspiration and why good PR and promotion starts with a great product. As a publisher, our content is a significant part of our product lineup. Following that you need to reach out and network with influencers. I've managed to get mainstream press coverage a few times in the past, but I'm certainly not an expert on this though and I'm always learning.
Re: Kevin's Case Study #10 - When to become an entrepreneur? - When the bug bite you. A lot of successful entrepreneurs started in their teens or at school. Selling sweets to fellow students or lemonade to firends in the neighbourhood.
Blog pinging - Thanks Martin - yes, I do ping and it has been very effective. I'm currently on the first page of Google for Mastermind Group and on the second page for Selling to Small Business.
Business magazines - Fast Company is pretty good if you're into technology although it can be very on the edge. Entrepreneur has become one giant advertisement and I cancelled my subscription. Selling Power also has some useful content if you're looking at improving your sales skills / presentations.


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