Unique: being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else.
So when they say you need to find a unique selling point, or proposition, that’s a pretty high bar. Can you name one thing that is truly unique?
What’s not unique?
I worked with a client recently, pulling together the story of 30 different brands they carried. They’d been asked to supply their 3 USPs.
That should have given me 90 different things to work with.
In the end, I had about 20. Why? Because everyone thinks that being, in these cases, sustainable, vegan, eco-friendly is unique.
They’re up there with high quality, leading-edge, out of the box, disruptive and a game-changer. When everyone says those things, then no one can claim ownership.
What’s the alternative?
I’m not going to take credit for this one, as it was one of the most impactful things I’ve heard. Take a listen to the Conversation of Inspiration with Fairfax Hall and Sam Galsworthy of Sipsmith Gin. They talk about the important thing is not to be unique, but to be distinctive.
Distinctive.
Going back to the dictionary again. Something that is distinctive is easy to recognise because it is different from other things.
So, is your business distinctive?
Your story is yours alone. And that can be distinctive. Even if you’re in a crowded category, you can be distinctive. When Isle of Wight Gin transformed into Mermaid Gin, with one of the most beautiful bottles on the market, it went from meh to distinctive.
Unique could be over-rated. Instead, ask yourself how will you make what you do distinctive?
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