Struggling to know what to write for your website, brochure or pitch to help you win that crucial customer?
You know you need a unique selling proposition (USP) that sets you apart from the crowd.
The perfect strapline
But what is it? Higher quality, a lower price, a better customer experience or a new technological innovation … ideally in one perfect sentence. Many companies have conjured up such a strapline, and famous examples include:
- Domino’s Pizza: You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less, or it’s free.
- M&Ms: The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand.
- FedEx: When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight.
Nailing down your USP
Yet chasing the ultimate strapline may be a fruitless diversion. What will make your USP stick in the mind of your prospective customer is the way you bring it to life.
The best USPs are simply lived out in the way you do business. And what better way to demonstrate your USP than by giving examples and stories, testimonials and accompanying visuals.
Case studies
We’ve worked with many clients to bring their USPs to life across digital and print.
- USPs were at the heart of our work with Cirios, a Mexican fish farm. The fish are created in a unique land-based seawater aquaculture facility, living happily and growing stress and disease-free with minimum handling. This was a great example of close collaboration with a design team: Cirios
- Athena Kitchen Management needed a bright brochure to convince prison kitchen managers and governors touse their software. We brought their bland list of USPs to life by using our 360-degree “think like the customer” approach to draw up compelling messages about the benefits to be felt in the kitchen and on the wing: Athena Kitchen Management
- We were tasked with rewriting the website for Connor. Their USPs are that they are the people and change experts. They are bold, passionate and pragmatic, working with organisations to improve their performance through their people. Our guiding goal was to transform Connor from a ‘best-kept secret’ to a people-and-change specialist that everyone talks about. We created striking messaging that shows customers immediately why they need Connor and what Connor can achieve for them: Connor
- When we worked with Review Hair on an awards submission, we expanded on their USP of their amazingly close team through imagery created by the graphic designer and photographer. Then we could write: “We’re mad about celebrating each other’s successes. It binds us together a team and makes us stronger together than we are apart.” Review Salon
- FlightDelayRepay, a new company guaranteeing an instant payment of £100 for delayed airline passengers, needed to make their USP topical to get national newspaper coverage. We created two press releases that gained the publicity they hoped for: FlightDelayRepay
