What is the Unique Selling Proposition?

In the early 1950s, American Rosser Reeves put forward the USP theory, and required consumers to say a "Unique Selling Proposition" (USP theory), also known as the creative theory. The characteristic is that the characteristics of the product must be stated to the audience. At the same time, the characteristic must be unique and must be able to cause sales.

USP theory

The unique selling proposition of USP theory (unique selling proposition) includes the following four aspects:

1) Emphasize the specific special functions and benefits of the product-every advertisement must have a sales claim for consumers;

2) This particularity cannot be put forward by competitors-this claim must be made by competitors and cannot be made, and must be unique;

3) Strong sales force-This claim must be strong enough to affect millions of members of the public.

4) In the 1990s, Dabis defined USP as: USP's creativity lies in revealing the essence of a brand, and through strong and persuasive confirmation of its uniqueness, it is invincible and unstoppable.

Three characteristics of USP theory:

First, it must include a specific product utility, that is, each advertisement must provide a speech to the consumer and give the consumer a clear commitment of benefits

Second, it must be unique and unique, and it must be a rhetoric that other similar competitive products do not have or have not advertised.

Third, it must be conducive to sales promotion, that is, the rhetoric must be strong and able to attract millions of people

1969: Positioning-Creating new differences to win the market

In an increasingly competitive market, how to create differences from competitors is a major focus in company marketing. Marketing masters have proposed three effective theories and strategies. 1970s

Marketing is not only of great value to the enterprise, but the marketing thinking method can also be applied to a wide range of organizational and personal activities outside of commercial activities. Kotler and Sidney Levy proposed the idea of "expanded marketing" in 1969. They believe that marketing applies not only to products and services, but also to organizations, ideologies, governments, schools, political parties, politics, and so on. Regardless of whether these organizations conduct currency transactions, they are actually engaged in marketing. This makes the scope of marketing "pervasive."

We also see marketing techniques in party activities in Europe, America or Hong Kong. The ever-increasing annual election expenses, increasing advertisements, and increasing events of the president and governor of the United States can be seen in the use of politics for marketing. The amount of funds raised for election campaigns determines the length of their television appearances. Whoever has a correct grasp of the voters' mentality and psychology can also publish their "policy guidelines" in a more targeted manner. Similarly, the continuous improvement of the production level of public service advertisements and the increasing playing time of public service advertisements also illustrate the meaning of "expanded marketing". The significance of the "expanded marketing" idea is to include more social activities into marketing considerations.

The enlightenment of "expanded marketing" is that as large as a country's political party politics, every event launched, every political idea promoted, and every policy formulated should be done with the least investment, let the most people know, and let the most Agree, reduce the waste of propaganda costs; we must first investigate the objectives of the institute and communicate in the language of the people to achieve the best results. As small as an activity or a plan, it is necessary to achieve the maximum awareness, the greatest interest, and the greatest approval and participation with the least budget. "Expanded marketing" has room for further development in a developing society. Of course, some scholars oppose "expanded marketing" and believe that marketing is not "

Since the 1980s, a new concept of marketing strategy has emerged in Japan, Europe and the United States, and that is Customer Satisfaction. Kotler believes that "satisfaction is a level of sensory state that comes from comparing the performance or output envisaged by a product with people's expectations." Therefore, the goal of corporate marketing is to increase expectations and improve performance. The combination of the two pursues the so-called "Total Customer Satisfaction".

Customers expectations for products or services come from past experience, the influence of other people s experience, and information commitments from marketers or competitors: and performance comes from overall customer value (consisting of product value, service value, personnel value, and image value) and

After a hundred years of marketing, the focus of attention has finally returned to the main body of marketing activities-the relationship between people and people. This can be said to be a return, but also a return of Western culture to Eastern culture.

In 1985,

In today's market, it doesn't matter what your product really is (technology advancement makes it easy for everyone to become highly homogeneous in products). The key is what consumers think of your brand. In the 1990s,

1. White and BlackTreatment of colds

In 1995, the sales of "white plus black" exceeded 160 million yuan in just 180 days after listing. It split 15% of the market share in the crowded cold medicine market, and became the second brand in the industry. In the history of marketing communications in mainland China It is a miracle. This phenomenon is called "white plus black" shock, which has produced a strong impact in the marketing world.

Generally speaking, in a homogeneous market, it is difficult to discover a "unique sales proposition" (USP). There are many similar medicines in the cold medicine market, and the market is already highly homogenized. It is difficult to make substantial breakthroughs in both Chinese and Western medicines. Conteco, Livzon, Sanjiu and other "big names" only occupied a site by virtue of their powerful advertising offensives. Gaitianli, a not very powerful pharmaceutical factory, has come to live in a short period of six months. The key lies in the new product concept.

"White plus black" is an amazing idea. It seems simple, it just divides cold medicine into white and black tablets, and puts the sedative "Pulmin" in the cold medicine in the black film, and does nothing else; it is not simple, it is not only in the brand's appearance It is very different from competing brands, and more importantly, it is in line with consumer lifestyles, and has achieved a strong communication effect that triggers Lenovo.

With the assistance of the advertising company, "white plus black" has determined the simple and concise advertising slogan "treat colds, black and white". The core message of all advertisements is "white film during the day, do not sleep; black film at night, sleep Deodorant. " Product names and advertising messages clearly communicate product concepts.

Second, Shu Fujia-the latecomer ranks first in the soap market

In March 1992, "Shu Fujia" entered the Chinese market, and "Lux", which entered the Chinese market as early as 1986, has firmly occupied the soap market. The epigenetic "Shu Fujia", in a few years, bluntly pulled "Li Shi" from the throne of soap overlord. According to data from 2001, Shufujia's market share reached 41.95%, 14 percentage points higher than the second largest Lux.

There are naturally many factors for Shu Fujia's success, but the key point is that it has found a new and accurate concept of "sterilization".

When the Chinese started to wash their hands with soap, Shu Fujia began its "educational work" for more than ten years, asking the Chinese to really clean their hands-visible stains were washed away, invisible bacteria you Was it washed out?

In Shu Fujia's marketing communications, the concept of "sterilization" is used as an axis concept, and "effective sterilization and protection of the whole family" is sought. In the advertisements, he tells everyone through playing football, squeezing cars, carrying gas cans, etc. Bacteria, "frighten you" with bacteria under a magnifying glass. Then, through the rational demands and experiments of "containing antibacterial ingredients" Dibaofu "", Shu Fujia proved that Shu Fujia can let you wash your hands "clean", and also strengthened the brand trust through "Chinese Medical Association Verification".

Third, melatonin-sip the Chinese gift market

In China, if anyone mentions "no gifts for the holidays", anyone can tell you that "receiving gifts only receives melatonin." Melatonin has become the first representative of the Chinese gift market.

Sleep problems have been a problem for middle-aged and elderly people, and people who lack sleep due to insomnia are everywhere. According to statistics, at least 70% of women in China have insufficient sleep, and 90% of the elderly often do not sleep well. The "sleep" market is so large. However, after the concept of "Red Blood" with three peach liquids and "conditioning of the stomach" was created by the concept of "Stomach and Gastrointestinal Stomach" in the Chinese health care product market, when the credibility of the health care product industry fell to the bottom, Melatonin A "sleep" concept alone cannot rise quickly.

As a single variety of health products, Melatonin quickly launched the market in a very short period of time, and ascended to the throne of China's health product industry "Leader", leading the Chinese health product industry for five years. The most important factor in its success was to find the axis concept of "gift".

China, the state of etiquette. There are various gift-giving behaviors such as gift-giving in the New Year, visiting relatives, friends, patients, public relations, wedding gifts, lower-level gifts to seniors, and young people to elders. The key to MPL's success lies in its positioning in the huge gift market, and thanks to the "positioning first" principle, it is the first to clearly position itself as a "gift"-leading the consumer trend with gift positioning.

Fourth, Robust, 27-layer purification

After rounds of "water wars", the drinking water market has formed a three-legged pattern: Wahaha, Robust, Nongfu Spring, and even the powerful Master Kong was once squeezed out of the drinking water market. Looking at the success or failure of each water, the success of Robust Pure Water is largely due to its "27-layer purification" marketing communication concept.

When Robust Purified Water was launched on the market, it realized the importance of establishing a deep brand identity with a rational appeal, so the rational appeal of classic advertising of 27-layer purification was born.

When pure water first became popular, all advertisements for pure water brands said that their pure water was pure. Consumers do not know which brand of water is really pure, or when it is more pure, Robust Pure Water launches a unified selling point advertisement in various media, highlighting Robust Pure Water after 27 layers of purification, Purity presents a strong support point. This series of advertisements quickly stood out in the advertisements of many similar products. The purity of Robust's pure water left a deep impression on the audience. "27-layer purification" gives consumers a "very pure and trustworthy" impression.

What is 27-layer purification? Is it a process that other pure water manufacturers cannot reach? No. USP, that's it, the concept of marketing communications.

Five, Nongfu Spring, sweet and happy

In 1998, the battle between Wahaha, Robust and many other drinking water brands was already under fire. In front of Wahaha and Robust, the Nongfu Spring just appeared weak, and in addition, Nongfu Spring only took water from Qiandao Lake The transportation cost is high.

Nongfu Spring entered the market at this time, and resisted the impact of many domestic and foreign brands in just a few years, and ranked among the top three in the industry. One of the success factors lies in its differentiated marketing strategy. The direct expression of differentiation comes from the concept idea of "a bit sweet"-"Nongfushanquan is a bit sweet".

Is "Nongfu Spring" a bit sweet? No, the concept of marketing communications is just that. The water of Nongfushan Spring comes from Qiandao Lake. It is a spring water collected from many mountains. After the self-purification and purification of Qiandao Lake, it can be said that it is a sweet spring. But how can consumers be intuitively aware of the "origin" of Nongfu Spring and how to form a good "Ganquan" impression? This requires a simple and visual marketing communication concept.

"Farmer's Spring is a bit sweet" does not require that the water must be a bit sweet. Sweet water is synonymous with good water. Just as coffee tastes bitter, Nestle Coffee says it tastes good, which means it is good coffee. The Chinese word "Ganquan" explains sweet water. "Sweet" not only conveyed good product quality information, but also directly reminiscent of sweet and refreshing spring water, and it naturally felt "a bit sweet".

6. Farmer's orchard, one "shake" and three "birds"

Two fat father and son in beachwear buy drinks in front of a beverage store;

When I saw the poster of the farmer orchard, it said "Farmer orchard, shake before drinking";

So the father and son raised their hands and twisted the body funny and cute, and the beautiful sales lady looked at them suspiciously;

(1 turn of the camera) Oral sowing: The farmer orchard is made of three kinds of fruits, and shakes before drinking;

(Vision) The two fathers and sons who continue to twist their butts go away.

When I first saw this ad, it was a joy, and then I was very excited-there is another great classic concept in the Chinese marketing community!

It's a health club, it's in a very competitive industry, it's a classic marketing communication concept, and it will create another marketing miracle! We cannot but admire the comrades of Yangshengtang!

The main focus is on the female consumer market, shouting the slogan "Drink more and be more beautiful", Master Kong, Jianlibao, Huiyuan, etc. have also adopted the beauty line. Master Kong signed Liang Yongqi to shake the flag for "Daily C Juice", Jianlibao hired Asian pop star Ayumi Hamasaki as the image ambassador for "Fifth Season". After promoting cold filling for a while, Huiyuan invited the most popular Korean movie star, Quan Jixian The spokesman for "True Orange". The juice market of PET packaging, all of a sudden beauty.

Later, the farmer orchard was "not bewildered by women" and made extraordinary moves, and once again used a differentiation strategy, taking one action as its unique brand identity-"shake it."

It's a great idea!

Three fruits are blended and shaken before drinking. "Shake and Shake" most intuitively implies that consumers are made of three kinds of fruits. Shake and shake can make the taste uniform; In addition, it is even more wonderful to convey the high content of fruit juice silently because my The content of fruit juice is high. Shake it to shake even thicker materials. Behind the "shake" is the subtext of "I have the goods".

Before the advertisement in the farmer orchard, many fruit drinks and even oral liquid product packaging will have such a line of small words-"If there is precipitation, it is the pulp (active ingredient) that precipitates, please shake it after drinking". This line of small characters seems to eliminate a misunderstanding-it is not that my product is broken with precipitation, just shake it and drink. In fact, it is a good selling point-it proves that the product has a high content of juice, but this language has been on various packaging for many years, and no one has ever paid attention to the "ugly duckling" in the corner. The farmer orchard found the white swan, and dressed her up as a star-a wonderful slogan "shake before drinking" became a unique selling point.

At the same time, in terms of emotional identity, "shake a shake" makes the publicity appeal very different from similar fruit juice products, and increases consumers' memory with its unique fun and entertainment.

7. 1: 1: Arowana is better than Xintiandi

In China, the "Golden Dragon" edible oils under the Kerry Grain and Oils (affiliated to the Hong Kong branch of the Guo Brothers Group founded by Chinese of Malaysian origin) have maintained their No. 1 brand position in the small package edible oil industry with absolute advantages for many years.

The product of blending oil was created by "Arowana". At the time, when Arowana introduced salad oil, which was already popular abroad, it was found that although there was a market, it was not completely accepted by the Chinese. The reason is that although salad oil is highly refined, it does not have much oily fragrance, which is not in line with Chinese dietary habits. Later, Arowana developed a product that mixed peanut oil, rapeseed oil and salad oil, combining the purity and health of salad oil with the needs of the Chinese, so that product innovation finally won the Chinese market.

In order to build "Arowana" into a strong brand, "Arowana" has continued to innovate in the brand, from the original "warm family. Arowana family" to "Healthy Life Arowana", however, in many years of marketing communication In addition to these "fuzzy" brand concepts, in addition to letting consumers remember the brand name of "Arowana", they have not caused more associations. Moreover, everyone does not seem to clearly understand what the blending oil tutor is and what is good .

In 2002, "Golden Arowana" jumped the portal again and achieved a new breakthrough. The key lies in its new marketing communication concept "1: 1: 1". The seemingly simple "1: 1: 1" concept, combined with the rational appeal of "1: 1: 1" best nutrition formula ", not only vividly conveys the characteristics of arowana made of three oils, but also allows consumption The person "misunderstood" that only "1: 1: 1" arowana is the best cooking oil.

Sharpen a sword in ten years. Arowana didn't let Chinese consumers really know about blending oil until 2002. The key is to find a simple marketing communication concept.

Eight, plucking dandruff and tapping new selling points for medicines

For a long period of 10 years, P & G's Three Musketeers Pantene, Rejoice, and HiFi, represented by nutrition, suppleness, and anti-dandruff, have almost monopolized the majority of the Chinese shampoo market. Companies that want to develop in the shampoo field are all overwhelmed by these three mountains, and it is difficult to survive in the shadow of P & G. Later "Shu Lei", "Feng Ying", "Xia Shilian", "Lux", "Flower Fragrance" and so on made it difficult for many shampoo brands to break through. At the time of Caile's "out of the mountain", the domestic anti-dandruff shampoo market is quite mature. From the point of view of product requirements, it seems that it has become seamless. Xi'an Janssen's "Celenium" antidandruff special effect drug successfully entered the market at the beginning of the market, and its sales volume increased steadily.

The breakthrough of "Celesture" is healing. Its success mainly comes from product ideas. It sells shampoo as medicine. At the same time, the ingenious marketing channel available in major pharmacies also contributes.

Anti-dandruff special effects, can not find a strong competitor in the pharmaceutical industry, in the field of shampoo is even more like no one! Cile has found an excellent blank area in the market and successfully occupied the market with unique product quality.

"Dandruffs are caused by over-proliferation of fungi on the scalp. Removing dandruff should kill the fungi; ordinary shampoos can only wash off dandruff on the hair. Our method, killing fungi on the hair, use 8 times. . "

The above unique product functional appeals have effectively captured the psychological needs of target consumers, making consumers forget about anti-dandruff shampoo when they want to solve the problem of dandruff, and they think of "Calile".

Nine, Haier oxygen bar air conditioning, aerobic exercise is energetic

When it comes to the air-conditioning industry, everyone often thinks of a "price war". Just when everyone is guessing who will be the first company to start the price war in 2003, there is a kind of flash in the eyes of consumers. And amazing product: oxygen bar air conditioner.

In 2003, suffering from multiple "oppressions" such as "SARS", "cold summer", and rising raw material prices, Haier's air conditioner still performed well. The most important factor came from product (concept) innovation-oxygen bar air conditioner.

It is not so much the success of product design as the success of conceptual innovation, the success of the way of satisfying demand that was born of close attention to consumer life. The idea of the oxygen bar air conditioner is very simple-based on the lack of oxygen in the room due to the closure (although this relative lack of oxygen does not have much impact on people), the oxygen content is increased through the air conditioner; and the principle is simple-according to the design of this air conditioner Haier air-conditioning experts said that it only adds a special oxygen-enriched film to the air conditioner to increase the oxygen concentration through this film to 30%, and then uses the air pump to introduce the air containing 30% oxygen into the room, thereby ensuring indoor air. Sufficient oxygen not only guarantees people's vitality, but also prevents the occurrence of air-conditioning diseases.

Haier oxygen bar air conditioner, through the differentiated design of the product (concept), has achieved another breakthrough. At the time when other air-conditioning brands were killing with high prices, Haier once again enjoyed high profits through a simple and great innovative product (concept).

X. Huiyuan Juice-"Cold" Hot Market

On June 3, 2003, in the hot battle of the fruit juice market, Huiyuan Group officially launched the "cold" plan in Beijing. Sign your own name.

Experts, including Pan Beilei, vice president of the China Light Industry Association, believe that Huiyuan's first application of PET aseptic cold filling technology in the domestic fruit juice industry will make China's fruit juice market enter a new stage of "technology determines the market". The so-called "cold" plan is Huiyuan's PET aseptic cold filling production technology. In Huiyuan's "PET Cold Filling" advertisement, an orange "sniffed" an orange that "traditionally filled".

Aseptic cold filling technology, using instant sterilization and then filling at 25 degrees Celsius at normal temperature, can minimize the heating time of the juice and greatly reduce the loss of heat-sensitive ingredients, thereby ensuring that the taste of the juice is fresher and more natural. One problem caused many people's confusion. Huiyuan introduced 3 aseptic PET production lines as early as 2001. But why did it only publicize it in June 2003?

Marketing communication concept.

Huiyuan only found valuable concepts in 2003. Can consumers tell which hot-filled and cold-filled juices are delicious? No too. But consumers can clearly feel that the "cold" is delicious, and the "cold" does not damage the nutrients. We don't need to study how much the so-called "hot filling" affects nutrition and taste, but as long as everyone generally thinks "cold" is better than "hot"! Marketing puts products in front of consumers, but also puts the concept of value in consumers' hearts. ^[1]