It’s hard to stand out in the marketing arena. Many marketers do basically the same things: advertise on TV, Internet, radio, magazines, newspapers, etc. Many attend trade shows, create sales presentations and hand out sales brochures. You see Coke and Pepsi commercials in the same time slots on TV. You see their magazine ads in similar magazines, or maybe even in the same magazine.

Everyone is telling consumers that their brand is better than their competitors. So what makes some marketers different from others? Why are some marketers more successful than others?

It’s strategic differentiation. This relies on the consumer’s perception of the brand. It’s easy for marketers to forget that the brand is not what they make it; it’s how the consumer’s perceive the brand to be.

Consumer Perception
Let’s look at an example. If someone is thirsty, they’ll stop at the convenience store and get a drink.  Everything from water to Coke to Pepsi to milk to Gatorade to coffee can fulfill this need of eliminating thirst. But perceptions of each type of drink’s brand goes through the person’s head quickly. If the person is an athlete and needs a drink because he just exercised, he might pick water or Gatorade. Gatorade is especially connected to athletes. Water is also, to a lesser degree. Water is the ultimate thirst quencher and it has no calories or sugar, so someone on a diet might grab water. People tend to like Coke or Pepsi, not both, so the person’s brand perception of each type of soda will dictate which he picks. If the person is worried about not getting enough calcium, he’ll pick the milk.

This example shows how an everyday, seemingly simple decision can be affected by strategic differentiation. Each brand brings something different to the table. They all bring it in the same ways, i.e. commercials, advertisements, but each differentiates itself from the competition.

So it’s the message that is at the core of strategic differentiation. The more focused that message, the better. The key to focusing your marketing message across all channels is to identify your unique selling proposition (USP).

USP Defined
The term and concept was introduced by Rosser Reeves of Ted Bates & Company in the 1940s. Reeves explains in his book Reality in Advertising that a USP: (1) tells the customer a specific benefit gained from using the product (as Reeves puts it: the copy is “not just product puffery”; (2) the proposition must be one that the competition cannot or does not offer; (3) the proposition must be strong enough to move millions of people to act.

Two examples of good USPs: Head & Shoulders: “You get rid of dandruff.” M&Ms: “The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hands.” (Although, I beg to differ! Especially on a hot summer day.)

The point is that these brands were the first to offer these USPs. Other shampoos now get rid of dandruff, but Head & Shoulders was the first to make the claim. The unfortunate thing about a good USP is that it doesn’t usually last long. What I mean is that your competitors will copy you or at least try to copy you. The good thing is that consumers will remember that you brought the USP to the market first.