Why are today’s smart marketers talking about Brand Promise rather than the all too familiar USP – Unique Selling Proposition?
The answer is simple. The low barriers to entry in most industries created by the free and almost instant flow of information, resulting in the hyper-competitive nature of today’s marketplace means there are very few unique products and services and if they are unique to begin with they do not stay so for very long.
This paradigm shift has repercussions for for every modern enterprise. It means that brand owners and marketers must create unique experiences for their customers and communicate them clearly to their prospects. Because these experiences are what will differentiate them from their competitors. To do so they must work out what it is that they can promise their customers.
Product, Price, and Place (distribution) can be easily copied by competitors, which is why marketers invest much time and budget into Promotion (Communication). What can not be copied is the relationship, the emotional connections you develop with your customers. And like all relationships, they require consistent and clear communication.
Brand Promise must be:
- A Benefit that is relevant and important to the target market.
- A benefit that is different from the competitors.
- A benefit that your company is able to deliver.
The benefit may be:
- Functional
- Emotional
- Experiential
- Self-Expressive
Brand Promise is ideally expressed as:
Only (name of your brand) delivers (relevant differentiated benefit) to (target customer).
The Brand Promise is a critical ingredient that assists marketers work out the Positioning Statement.
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