Advertisement Ideas: Finding Your USP!!!

In the many years that I have worked for entrepreneurs I have always asked before I started working with them is what do you want to be know for as a business? Many times they do not have an answer so I explain the importance of having a unique selling proposition? I take it further and ask who do you want to reach? Again many make it to broad that they get stuck trying to reach everyone when in reality if they created a niche market they would be more successful. Recently I had some tell me I want to reach all sports fans. I said this was to broad how about narrowing it down to I want to reach sports fans aged 14-54 who support local teams and who will spend on average $30. In doing this you narrow your audience and can stay ahead of the curve in your industry.  As I have been involved in the retail apparel industry and have excelled I know what people are looking for and how important a unique selling proposition is. In 1988 when I went to work at The Oaktree Men;s Clothing Store I saw the unique selling proposition that they had as they sold a brand called Cosi Crest and were the only store where this brand was available. Cosi Crest was a brand that gave consumers an alternative to Zcavarici, which Oaktree also carried. In being the only store with a particular brand Oaktree was able to capitalize on the market. I went on to work for Merle Harmon’s Fan Fair a sports apparel and memorabilia store when baseball card collecting was having a major growth spurt and when team apparel was all the rage. Our unique selling proposition was that we could get any teams apparel in any league so when a customer came in for San Diego Padres Jackets at our Boca location and we didn’t have them in stock we could go to the catalog call the company give them our vendor number and place the order. of course we received payment up front.  My most recent jobs have been with sports memorabilia companies with retail store fronts and the one thing I noticed with both companies is that they do not have a unique selling position. One company recently relocated and changed its name and began to market itself as the place to find vintage items and as a result by creating a unique selling proposition are moving forward in a positive direction. the other company is still finding its niche with a second location and once they have a unique selling proposition will do well.

 The key to building your brand and increasing your revenue is to find a way to stand out among the crowd and be known for something that the consumer desires. If you capitalize on the current trends  and look at what will trend in the future you can become very successful.  I have learned that when you have what the consumer is looking for and you create a unique selling proposition you find success.  There is an adage that you have read about in previous posts called strike when the iron is hot.

Though The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are 4 years away Nike has already introduced The Tokyo 2020 sneaker and it is now available. This is why NIKE is the  leader in the sports apparel and sneaker industry and everyone else follows. To think back in the 70’s NIKE was almost bankrupt but they listened to the consumers and changed the way business is done in the industry. In becoming a purveyor of change and innovation NIKE grew to be a leader in the sports industry. They have become known as the top sneaker company in the world and the majority of consumers mention NIKE before any other company. NIKE was on the cutting edge of customization as they were the first to introduce the concept and now every other company is doing customization. Customization became one of NIKE’s unique selling propositions.  I even used www.nikeid.com when it came time to design my BEAT CANCER SNEAKERS.

Here I am wearing my BEAT CANCER SNEAKERS as I was preparing to host an auction for The Howard Davis Foundation. At the time Howard was battling cancer. Why did the foundation choose to work with the company i was working for at the time? The reason was because we had the unique selling proposition as having high end collectibles that their audience would be looking for and they also had me running the auction and with my voice I was able to entice people to bid on items.