"If you look back in history of the women who are most memorable and most stylish, they were never the followers of fashion. They were the ones who were unique in their style, breakers of the rules. They were authentic, genuine, original. They were not following the trends."
- Nina Garcia, Editor-in-chief of ELLE magazine

A unique selling point (USP) refers to any exclusive feature or aspect of a business, its products or brands that makes it distinct from others in the same industry. Having a USP means a business, product, or brand has a distinctive factor that makes it one-of-a-kind and stand out in a positive way from the competition.

It is the ultimate purpose of product differentiation. Product differentiation refers to the process by which firms attempt to make their goods and services different from those provided by other firms in the market in order to increase their own sales revenue. Examples of product differentiation strategies include product quality, branding, physical appearance, colours, packaging, and after-sales services.

A USP has several interrelated basic components:

• Benefits - what attracts customers to the organization, its products, or its brands

• Emotive - what attracts people to the organization, its products, or its brands on an emotional level

• Key selling point(s) - what makes the organization, its products, or its brands better than others

• Key difference(s) from competitors - what makes the products or brand stand out from the competition

• Competitive advantage - what makes the organization attractive to customers, such as its reputation or area of expertise in a particular market.

The unique selling point (or unique selling proposition) explains why customers choose a particular business, product or brand over another. Increasingly, businesses need to differentiate themselves from rival firms. For example, Apple’s USP has been its intuitive and innovative products. Tesla’s USP is its visually appealing, high-performance electric cars.

A business can have a USP in any aspect of its marketing mix. Examples include price, memorable slogan, high-quality product, convenience, value for money, business location, distribution networks, and customer experience. Having a USP can go a long way in establishing market share and customer loyalty.

Having a unique selling point (or unique selling proposition) can be important for several reasons:

• It can makes the product or brand stand out from the competition in the market, i.e. it helps to attract customers by drawing attention to its competitive advantage, leading to higher sales.

• It can lead to greater customer loyalty as customers identify something distinctive and superior about the product over rival ones. Again, this can lead to increased sales.

• It can help entrepreneurs to determine if a new commercial project or idea is likely to succeed. The business needs to determine if it can establish a USP to compete successfully in the market, by offering customers something different from what is already available in the market. This happens before the firm needs to commit any financial resources to developing and launching the project. 

The most effective USPs are those that add value for customers and are difficult for rivals to copy. For example, Apple uses patents to protect its innovative products from being copied by rival companies. Coca-Cola claims to have created the red and white outfit worn by Santa Claus – the same colours as its iconic logo; no one has been able to successfully dispute Coca-Cola’s claim.

Coca-Cola’s claim to creating Santa Claus’ outfit

USPs are often used in conjunction with business slogans and catchphrases. To do this, businesses take a unique quality or feature of their product or organization and explain how that quality or feature will benefit their customers, all in a few memorable words. Ultimately, the unique selling proposition is a key component of an organization’s marketing and corporate strategies. Essentially, it is about what the business can offer to the customer that no one else can. Put another way, a business without a USP gives little, if any, reason for customers to choose their products or brands over those of competitors in the industry.

Examples of businesses with USPs include:

• DeBeers - “A diamond is forever.” This famous slogan has been by DeBeers since 1948, and was named by Advertising Age magazine as the best corporate slogan of the 20th century. The association of diamonds (from DeBeers) lasting forever made its products the perfect symbol for eternal love. Diamonds are the most popular choice for engagement rings.

• Domino’s Pizza - “You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less or it’s free.” This slogan makes the company's USP clear as it spells out a guarantee with absolute clarity for customers.

• IKEA - "To create a better everyday life for the many people." The Swedish company's global USP is its ability to maximise economies of scale to offer high-quality furniture at low prices - arguably the ultimate benefit any business can provide for its customers.

• Patagonia’s USP isn’t a product, a quality, or feature, but their reason for existing (its mission) - “We’re In Business To Save Our Home Planet.” This mission establishes the company as more than just a clothing brand, with 1% of its sales revenues being pledged to the preservation and restoration of the planet.

• TOMS Shoes - “Shoes for Moving Forward”. Despite being a  for-profit company, the American firm was one of the first shoe companies in the world to use a "buy one, gift one model". For every pair of TOMS shoes sold, the company gifts another pair to a child in need, helping to make customers feel good about their purchases.

Note: Do not confuse unique selling propositions with business slogans or with mission statements (although they can be directly linked). Having a catchy slogan or a memorable mission statement does not, on their own, automatically give a business a unique selling proposition.

However, there could be potential drawback for a business that strives to gain or maintain a unique selling point. These include, but are not limited to:

• Creating and sustaining a unique product is likely to require substantial investments in research, development, manufacturing, and/or technology. It might also necessitate intellectual property protection (IPP). These expenses can affect the business's profits, especially if it has difficulty selling enough to cover the costs.

• While a unique product might be popular with a specific group of customers, it might not attract a larger market. This can limit the organization's growth if it relies solely on its uniqueness.

• When a successful unique selling point is created, competitors might simply copy, tweak, or enhance it. This can weaken the business's advantage over time, resulting in more competition and possible price wars.

• If a business's special feature relies on a particular trend, technology, or customer demand, it can become outdated if preferences change or new tech emerges. The business will therefore need ongoing innovation to stay up-to-date.

• When a business has a strong unique feature, customers expect it. If the business needs to change its product offering for any reason, this could disappoint customers, making it challenging to retain customer loyalty.

To mitigate these potential drawbacks, businesses need to continually assess changes in the market, monitor the competition, continually innovate, and build strong customer relationships in order to add value beyond the USP.

 Watch this short video clip about numerous ways that businesses can establish a unique selling proposition:

 Watch this video clip, featuring the world’s largest deliverable pizza – a USP from Big Mama’s & Papa’s Pizzeria, in Los Angeles: