The Value Proposition</h1> <article> <h1>The Value Proposition</h1> <p>Wed, 7 Sep 2011 16:56:46 GMT</p> <p><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The Unique Selling Proposition, or USP was a concept invented in 1940's America by marketing guru Rosser Reeves which was designed to differentiate a product/ service by benefits, uniqueness, and 'needability'. Indeed it was highly successful in defining brands such as Dominos, Fed-Ex and M&M's chocolates, in an era when competition was significantly less than in today's world. <br /><br /> However, nowadays the concept is widely misunderstood (or not understood at all) where the term is used casually to refer to any aspect of a product/ service that has some nebulous differentiating factor.<br /> But in these days of intense competition between rival products and services, it's pretty difficult if not impossible to describe uniqueness by way of characteristics alone. <br /><br /> This is where the <strong>Value Proposition</strong> comes in. The value proposition is a summary of <em><strong>what you do for people</strong></em>, as opposed to what you offer. It's a headline that clearly shows why you are different from your competitors in terms of <strong><em>value delivered.</em></strong><br />Here's one we did for a client recently: <br /><br /> <strong><em>Before (owner centric):</em></strong> XYZ Architects are a small team of design professionals dedicated to providing creative design and practical solutions to alterations and extensions to individual homes. We aim to provide a professional and friendly service steering clients through every element of the design and build process. <br /><br /> <em><strong>After (customer centric):</strong></em> XYZ are passionate architectural creatives who add immeasurable value to your lifestyle by transforming your home into the beautiful living space you’ve always dreamed of. <br /><br />You can see that this value proposition starts to paint a picture in the mind of the reader at this early 'emotional' stage of the marketing process, and forms a firm basis of all future marketing messages.<br />By contrast, you will see that the owner centric copy was purely about them and what they offered as opposed to demonstrating any end benefits or value to the end consumer.<br /><br /> So accepting that you are no longer unique in what you do or sell, you can become unique by telling your own 'value proposition' story about your product or service that will set you apart from the competition.</span></p> </article> <article> <h1>Branding consistency really works</h1> <p>Sun, 21 Aug 2011 22:07:39 GMT</p> <p>So today, Mrs B and I had a great day out to Spitalfields and Brick Lane in London. The weather was juuust gorgeous.<br /><br /> So being a great fan of good coffee (OK, well coffee I like!), I usually buy in <em>Costa</em> or <em>Nero</em>, but today, there was the choice of some independents up Brick Lane way, so in we went to one quite quirky, trendy cafe; I had a black americano, Mrs B had a Frappe. After the first sip, I''m sorry to say for both drinks, YUK was the comment. How disappointing when you look forward to something and it doesn''t come up to your expectations!<br /><br /> It immediately reminded me why <strong>brand consistency</strong> is so important. The reason so many (myself included) flock to the chains to the unfortunate abandonment the independents, is that chains provide <strong><em>consistency</em></strong>. No matter where you are, you will always get consistency, not only of the product, but the service. Even more importantly, it avoids that all important disappointment factor.<br /><br /> As Brand is the totality of perception and experience of a business, its product and its service (and hence becomes a state of pure emotion for the consumer), it''s vitally important for us business owners to provide absolute (good) consistency in our own product or service, and wherever possible, trying to align our business to any industry standards that exist. <br />Our own internal business consistency must span all customer touchpoints, not just the product, but business cards, letterheads, invoices, proposals, the website, the marketing, the way we answer the phone and emails, the uniform, the vehicles..... well you get the idea.<br /><br />When our prospects and customers return to our business time and time again, give them the consistency (good consistency!) they deserve, and they''ll return time after time.</p> </article> </main></body></html>