Journal 2: Marketing
Plan Part C: Unique Selling
Proposition

Due Week 6 and worth
100 points

You will now complete your secondary market research and consider what
distinguishes your company from your competitors, their products, and / or the
price of their products and services.

The key word in Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is “unique.” There are very
few products or services that are truly one of a kind. In order to target the
demographic for your company, you need to pinpoint what makes your business
standout among the competitors (e.g., Charles Revson, founder of Revlon, always
used to say he sold hope, not makeup. Neiman Marcus sells luxury and customer
service. Wal-Mart sells bargains. Amazon is earth’s biggest bookstore.)

Use the
Internet to research two (2) of your favorite companies and two (2) companies
that are similar to your company. Identify the USPs of these companies, and
consider what the USPs mean to you. Next, prepare to create a USP for your
company.

Tips on
creating a USP for your company:

• Put
  yourself in your customers’ shoes. Consider
  what your customers really want. Consider what could make them your repeat
  customers and instead of your competition‘s.
• Research
  what motivates your customers’ behaviors and buying decisions. You
  need to know what drives and motivates customers.
• Uncover
  the real reasons why customers buy your product instead of a
  competitor’s. As
  owner of a start up, ask people why they buy your future competitors’ product.
  This will help you uncover why they might buy yours. Ask yourself the following
  questions:
• • What
    does our product or service do better than anyone else?
  • How
    is our business model different from that of our competition? How could our
    product or service be different?
  • What
    market category or niche is not being served by our
    industry?

Write a
four to six (4-6) paragraph journal entry in which you:

1. Identify
   the target market and your secondary market for your company. Note: Be as specific as possible (e.g.,
   women 30-45, with a high school education and some college; people working full
   time and living in the Midwest, etc.).
2. Describe
   your unique selling proposition (USP). Explain the key factors that make your
   company different than competitors within your industry. Describe the primary
   way in which the USP for your company targets the two (2) markets you identified
   in Question 1.

Example
of a USP:

• My
  product is t-shirts and coffee mugs with fun and empowering logos for
  women.
• My
  target market is women ages 35-55, college educated, working full time. My
  secondary market trends a little younger at 25-35, women passionate about their
  professional life and their personal pursuits.
• My USP
  is “Be Authentic, no Apologies.”
• My
  reasoning is I want women to buy my sassy slogans, because they want to show
  their authentic voice on a shirt or mug.

Note: Insert the information from the completed Journal 3
entry into “Section 3: Unique Selling Proposition” in the provided Marketing
Plan Template (located in Week 4).

Click here to view the grading rubric for this assignment.