COMM 150: For Monday ... USP = unique selling proposition - "Chevvy runs deep" - running too deep?

On page 333 in "Media of Mass Communication" (our edition), John Vivian discusses the Unique Selling Proposition in terms of "lowest common denominator" advertising. I wish he wouldn't do that. Not that it isn't all too often true ... He suggests it's about "Creat[ing] a benefit of the product, even if from thin air, and then tout[ing] the benefit authoritatively and repeatedly as if the competition doesn't have it." Well, OK, yeah. But you're maybe not going to stay in business long if you rely on that.

Vivian does acknowledge, "A unique selling proposition need be neither hollow nor insulting, however." And that's where I want us to start.

Positioning ... vs. clutter ... "Ad clutter, as it is called, drowns out individual advertisements. With positioning, the appeal is focused and caters to audience segments, and it need not be done in such broad strokes."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unique_selling_proposition Wikipedia

Rosser Reeves of Ted Bates & Co.

• Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: "Buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit."
  
• The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer. It must be unique—either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.
  
• The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions, i.e., pull over new customers to your product.

Interactive Marketing, Inc., a website optimization and Internet marketing company of Bend, Ore., http://www.interactivemarketinginc.com/unique-selling-proposition.html

Your USP is the force that drives your business and success. It can also be used as a "branding" tool that deploys strategy with every tactical marketing effort you use such as an ad, a postcard, or web site. This allows you to build a lasting reputation while you're making sales. The ultimate goal of your USP and marketing is to have people say to you... "Oh, yes I've heard of you. You're the company who..." - And then respond by requesting more information or purchasing [boldface, italics and blue type in the original].

Vivian makes it sound like the USP is basically a gimmick, but it isn't. Notice what the advertising pros say: It has to be real, "Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising." Adds Interactive Marketing, "Think in terms of what your business does for your customer and the end-result they desire from a product or service like yours. So, what are the 3 biggest benefits you offer?" And this, "Consumers are skeptical of advertising claims companies make. So alleviate their skepticism by being specific and offering proof when possible."

Mikey Kaus, who writes a blog for Newsweek's website, xxx http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/kausfiles/2010/10/26/let-s-find-a-better-slogan-for-chevy.html

Jalopnik calls it the "Worst Ad Slogan Ever." That may be a stretch. It's better than "Excellence for All"! But it is a little weird. Is this a submarine they're selling? What is there about Chevy that runs deep? Red ink? Work rules? Influence in the Obama administration? More important, as Jalopnik notes, the slogan tells you zero about the product (assuming it's nonsubmersible). "Chevy Runs Deep" appears to be yet another attempt to sell you patriotic "heritage"—in other words, to get you to buy an American car because American cars used to be really good and everybody drove them!

Snarky, snarky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5AG2KbD5ko