Your brand undoubtedly holds attributes that are distinct from the competition and valued by consumers. Consult the map of the most relevant value propositions and craft your brand selling proposition.

In the 1990s, it was found that advertising messages were more easily understood when reduced to a single, clear promise to the consumer. Thus was born the concept of the Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Years later, this notion of value proposition would be adapted to the world of brands with the creation of the Brand Selling Proposition (BSP).

The BSP aims to concentrate the brand's promise into a unique and distinct value proposition from the competition. To achieve this, we have various types of value propositions, which can be more tangible or intangible depending on the implied promise.

A unique brand proposition helps make your business better than the competition. For that, It's important to emphasize only one specific and clear benefit that sets your company apart from others in the market.

For example, a value proposition focused on quality will highlight specific attributes based on product performance. On the other hand, a brand that prefers to stand out for the satisfaction levels of its consumers will explore a highly personal and intangible concept. Whichever option you choose, it's important to consider the essential principle for successful differentiation: Identifying brand attributes that are superior to the competition while also being relevant to the consumer.

The Value Territories that Help Differentiate Your Brand

There are 12 possible territories for defining the concrete benefit that your brand has to offer its consumers. These benefits should not only be valued by the brand's customers but should also be distinct from your competitors. The interplay between valued benefits and competitive differentiation determines the differentiation territory to be developed by the brand. Consult the following list and choose the one that best suits your business.

1. Perceived Value

We can differentiate a brand by highlighting the value that customers gain from buying or consuming the brand's products or services. This value can be utilitarian, economic, or emotional. For example, luxury brands promote social ascent, involving consumers in this experience and making them feel special and distinct due to access to a more exclusive consumer segment.

2. Quality

This approach emphasizes the quality of the product or service. It's usually associated with a higher price and superior raw materials compared to competitors, or better service attributes. In this context, quality is expected to be demonstrated through evidence, end results, or customer testimonials, among other possibilities that support the brand's promise.

3. Functional Proposition

In this context, the brand's differences are based on the specific characteristics of the product. It's a valid option for products or services that offer functionalities not found in their competitors. It's a common practice in the technology sector or in telecommunications, where products are subject to successive incremental innovations. For example, Dyson differentiates its vacuum cleaners based on patented technology that is absent in most competing products.

4. Price

This option positions the product or service as the most affordable option on the market and aims to generate a broad customer base. It's a difficult option to maintain as it's a measure that competitors can easily respond to. This option is widely used by traditional supermarket chains seeking to position themselves as the most economical choice for the family budget.

5. Experience

With this option, the brand differentiates itself from its competitors by highlighting the experience associated with the purchasing process or the consumption or use of the product or service. The brand's promise focuses on the reward and gratification that consumers get from choosing the brand. For example, the airline company Fly Emirates highlights the differentiated experience of its flights, with access to uncommon services such as video-on-demand or live events; e-gaming, or options for more comfort and rest.

6. Convenience

This strategy can be adopted by brands that offer products or services with attributes that are more convenient for access, purchase, or use. This convenience can be based on location, ease of use, broad accessibility, support for various platforms, or even highlight the product's design or packaging feature. For example, a beer brand might want to highlight the convenience of easily opening its bottle, making the product more suitable for consumption at the beach, picnics, or other moments where opening the product requires no utensils.

7. Innovation

A differentiation strategy based on disruptive innovation highlights the uniqueness of a product or attributes that do not exist in traditional competition. It focuses on innovative and early-adopter consumer segments, which in turn influence other consumer segments that are more conservative and skeptical about new technologies. Tesla is a great example. Before its inception, there were no attractive and modern fully electric vehicles. Tesla combined design and technology in a completely differentiated proposal, which would later be mimicked by the competition.

8. Celebrity

This option seeks to differentiate the brand through the influence of public figures that accelerate product or service notoriety and qualify them by transferring sympathy and approval capital between the celebrity and the brand. This option is usually used in sectors with little or no differentiation at the product or service level, or for launching new brands that seek to quickly gain notoriety. George Clooney's endorsement of Nespresso is famous, as is his strategic role in associating his charm, elegance, and prestige with the coffee brand. Competing brands like De'Longhi would later clone the same strategy, using celebrities like Brad Pitt.

9. Problem-Solution

In this context, brands present themselves as the solution to specific problems. The value proposition rationally highlights the problem experienced by the consumer, and then shows how the brand solves that challenge. For example, cold and flu medication brands show consumers severely limited in their daily lives, and then associate themselves with fast and painless healing processes that restore happiness and productivity, enabling consumers to return to their healthy and productive routines.

10. Lifestyle

With this approach, brands communicate an image and identity. Instead of emphasizing the characteristics or attributes of the product or service, they highlight the emotional reward or social ascent associated with consuming or using the brand. Brands of alcoholic beverages or tobacco dissociate potential contraindications from their consumption by promoting lifestyles associated with success, social status, glamorous lifestyles, or high social recognition.

11. Competition

This is a more aggressive option because it often uses communication that more directly compares product characteristics with its competition. The message is usually supported by consumer testimonials or key opinion makers confirming the superiority of the brand's attributes compared to competitors. The classic Pepsi Challenge is an example where consumers, when invited to a blind taste test, choose Pepsi even if they previously stated a preference for Coca-Cola.

12. Parent Brand

This strategy invests resources in creating the parent brand or institutional brand, so that all its sub-brands benefit from the notoriety and positive recognition of consumers. For example, Samsung is a brand that adopts a parent brand strategy, regardless of whether its products are mobile phones, televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners, or even washing machines or microwaves.

In conclusion, the concept of a unique value proposition remains a cornerstone for brands seeking to stand out in a competitive marketplace. Crafting a compelling brand selling proposition, based on a well-defined value proposition territory, can greatly enhance a brand's resonance with consumers and its ability to captivate a loyal customer base.

By aligning with one of these value territories, a brand can effectively communicate its distinctiveness and relevance, contributing to its long-term success in the market.