The three most famous letters in advertising, USP—unique selling proposition—what many have argued for decades forms the basis for creating effective ads was invested by and made Rosser Reeves famous. In his book, Reality in Advertising, he laments that understanding what the three letters means does not in fact reflect a wide-spread understanding of the term means.

From reading Reeves book and working in advertising for almost twenty years I’d say the USP includes three interrelated parts:

• Each ad must make a proposition, or a promise to the consumer. Not just empty marketing jargon, not just product features, not just “pretty” pictures. Each ad must say to consumer, “Buy this product and you will get this specific benefit.”
• The proposition must be one that your competition either cannot, or does not currently offer. The proposition therefore must be unique. Let me say that again, the proposition must be actually unique—either a uniqueness of the brand/product or a claim not currently being promoted by a competitor.
• The proposition must be so strong and compelling that it can move the majority of a target audience to buy your product.

When thinking of locating and promoting your product’s unique proposition, ponder this quote from Reeves, “The USP as something the consumer takes from the ad, rather than as something the copywriter puts into the ad.”