Don’t expect a USP. Expect a Repetitive Pleasure.
We don’t place the USP – the consumer promise – at the heart of everything.
We’ve moved on from that thinking.
A USP is the manufacturer talking at the consumer. It’s one-way communication. It’s rational, intrinsic and insistent on being ‘beneficial.’
A value proposition makes the consumer a recipient of your communication but not necessarily a participant in it.
And that’s not, in our experience and to the best of our knowledge, how people form meaningful, long-term relationships. Not with each other, not with the local school, not with a TV series.
In contrast, a Repetitive Pleasure is what you would like someone to feel when they experience your brand. Their focus shifts. Previously, they would have been evaluating and probably fending off your value proposition. Now they are doing something far more pleasant: they are experiencing something about themselves.
Ideally, what they feel should run deep: a belief which is important, for instance; or a value which they appreciate; or a challenge; or a truth about life.
A Repetitive Pleasure turns people from recipients of a message into participants with what your brand stands for. Your communication can inspire, affirm or challenge them.
Not just as consumers, but as human beings exploring their lives.
There’s a world of difference between a USP and a Repetitive Pleasure.
Many brands already understand this. Have these brands done it consciously? Have they developed the discipline? Who knows, but many have become the brands society most values.
When your brand becomes a Repetitive Pleasure, it can make a meaningful contribution to a person’s emotional life.
And, therefore, to society.
The deeper that resonance, the more society will value your business.