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.
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