It’s often the little things that trip you up. In advertising, the little things can quickly turn into major nightmares. Especially when you’re sitting there banging your head on the desk, trying to make an ad for a generic product that wants to advertise its genericness in the most creative way possible.
More often than not, marketers want to cram as much detail about their product or service into an ad as they can. The result is a brief that orders you to fit several little messages into one big message.
Of course, following such a brief results in some really f****d up ads that don’t make a lick of sense, no matter which way you look at it.
That’s where the almighty USP comes in. (Not to be confused with a UPS, that odd magic box that makes funny beep beep noises and keeps my computer running in the dark.)
The USP, or Unique Selling Point, makes you whittle down the endless features of the products to its one defining feature, which you want to brag about. In other words, it forces Mr. Client to choose ONE THING about the product that he would like to sell to the world. And we all know how much we enjoy forcing the client to do our bidding. (*Sigh* little victories.)
Sure, the whole USP exercise makes Mr. Client confused and/or grumpy (after all, most of them have no idea what they’re doing and they hate it when their ignorance is put on display), but it makes for a far more sensible ad.
Tags: advertising, copywriting, USP
