Unique selling propositions as advertising taglines

I’m a believer in decoding the unique selling proposition (USP) for your products and services. A sharp USP gives your marketing a single, clear reason to choose you, and the best ones become advertising taglines that last for decades.

Where the USP came from

The term was coined by Rosser Reeves of Ted Bates & Company, and set out in his 1961 book Reality in Advertising. Reeves said a USP had three parts:

1. Every ad must make a proposition to the customer: buy this product and you’ll get this specific benefit.
2. The proposition must be one the competition cannot, or does not, offer.
3. It must be strong enough to move millions of people to your product.

USPs that became taglines

• M&M’s: “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand.” (Created by Reeves’ own agency.)
• FedEx: “When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.”
• Pampers: the driest diaper.
• Head & Shoulders: effectively targets the source of dandruff.

Each one is a single, specific, provable benefit that competitors weren’t claiming, said simply enough to remember.

Is the USP still relevant?

Products are easier to copy today, so a truly unique functional benefit is rarer. That’s why many strategists now talk about positioning, and about being meaningfully different rather than completely unique (read differentiation vs distinctiveness). But the discipline of the USP is more useful than ever: forcing yourself to name one specific benefit that matters to customers and that you can own.

How to find your USP

1. List every benefit you offer, functional and emotional.
2. Cross out anything your competitors also claim.
3. Of what’s left, circle what customers genuinely value, based on research, not assumption.
4. Check you can prove it and deliver it every time.
5. Write it in one sentence a customer would repeat.

FAQs