1. CH 4: USP pp.65-67, 77-78

2. USP: Unique Selling Proposition USP is THE most important principle of advertising. It’s your “competetive difference”: the feature/benefit that puts you ahead of your competition. It’s the Reason someone will buy your product instead of another. (example: at the store, why do you buy Crest over Colgate? Etc.)

3. Sometimes the USP (difference) is obvious. So, it’s easy to write the headline.

4. But, when you don’t have a USP, what do you do? Create one if you can. For example, parity products are pretty much all the same, so USPs have to be invented. - Kleenex with lotion, antibacterial Kleenex - Tums, Rolaids w/ calcium - Crest, Colgate flavors

5. If you can’t create a USP, what do you do? Tout a benefit that your competition hasn’t touted. Example: A digital camera that shoots and prints fast. Example: Car crash test Example: What company has the best deals on car insurance? GEICO???? “You could save 15% or more on car insurance.”

6. Yeah, and you COULD find a million dollars in your Wheaties.

7. USP Leads to “Positioning” Getting “mind share” by putting your product/service in the buyer’s mind, in relationship to the competition. Example: Geico does that. Example: When people say “The Rolls Royce of... “ Experiment: I’m going to say a word and you’re going to write down the first company that comes to mind.

8. TIME TO VOTE: View the following 2 ads for competing products. They were found in the same magazine. Which product would you buy based on these ads? And why?

9. Ad #1

10. Ad #2 Vote: Which would you buy? Which has the strongest positioning? BTW: Both of these ads appeared in the same mag.

11. Questions?