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Why problem-based positioning is a psychological magnet

Does it make sense to dig for a USP in the dirt? Positioning your product is the toughest part of your identity. Sean D'Souza turns conventional USPs on their head and shows you how you can come up with a winner!
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Are you struggling to create a memorable positioning statement or USP (Unique Selling Proposition) for your marketing? Do you want to stand out from your competition, but the uniqueness of your business seems to elude you? Here’s a sneaky, vital secret that turns conventional marketing psychology on its head. By changing your positioning statement, find out how to transform your weakest link, into your strongest marketing strategy ever!

Avis Is Only Number 2. So Why Go With Them?

Years ago, in the rental car market, Hertz was chugging along merrily, with Avis a distant second. With one Problem-Based USP, Avis closed the gap. Their catch phrase, We’re No.2, We Try Harder, ignited the minds of the target audience like a rampaging bush fire. They turned a liability into an asset.

Southwest Airlines took to the skies with a similar message. We’re Smaller Than Everyone Else, they told us, while gently explaining why their service was dramatically better, as a direct consequence of their size. They also turned a liability into an asset.

In 2001, Harley Davidson proudly boasted how their CEO was 38th on the waiting list for the company's then, new V-Rod motorcycle. And they took pains to describe how each Harley was lovingly rolled off the plant. The waiting period, which normally would be perceived to be a negative, was turned into a publicity coup that burned a stamp of quality and a uniqueness into the brains of every prospective Harley owner.

All of these companies took a cold, hard-nosed look at reality. The superlatives in their business had been taken. Instead they unearthed their USP, in what most people would consider a disadvantage of sorts.

Are You Doing What Sally Did?

Sally is one heck of a real estate agent. Barely six months into real estate, and she’s already forging a red-hot path into the top ten salespeople in the country. While her talents and persuasive powers are formidable, there’s a little something that puts her head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd.

That Little Something Is A USP On Steroids!

If she chose to be unimaginative, Sally’s USP or tagline could have ended up as pretty run-of-the-mill. It could have ranged from a tacky, Residential Properties for every budget, to utterly boring, Getting Top Prices for Your Home. All of which would see her struggling to stand out, in a dog-eat-dog me-too marketplace.

A goody-gum-drop USP would get her nowhere in a hurry. She needed a USP with rocket fuel in its tanks. Something that would reach out and demand your attention without hesitation.

If You Sold Your Home In A Week or less, You Probably Got Too Little

That’s the USP that Sally created. Can you see what I mean? Doesn’t that USP go for your jugular? Sally’s target audience is sellers, not buyers. If you just sold a house, wouldn’t you feel a twinge of regret? What if you were about to sell a house?

Wouldn’t you be curious to find out just a little bit about what Sally does to lasso in a higher return? And wouldn’t you be just a little bit wary if the next real estate agent you met told you that she could sell your house in next to no time?

You’ve just witnessed the psychological power of the Problem-Based USP.

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About the author

Sean D'Souza's picture

Sean D'Souza is the driving force behind "PsychoTactics", and an expert on using an understanding of psychology to dramatically increase sales. 12 years ago, he joined an advertising agency called Leo Burnett. The skills he learnt while working with one of the best advertising agencies of the world took Sean on the heady road of copywriting, writing TV commercials (and how to do them in 5 seconds), graphic design, cartoons and web design. The underlying synchronicity was the constant search to find ways to communicate in the simplest, most effective manner. Sean - who is based in Auckland - now offers these skills to others through e-books such as his insightful "The Brain Audit", seminars, in his free newsletter and via his web site.