The Irony of a USP

Thanks Hardik and Rajiv

Good One.

Consumer uses selection and rejection criteria while making a decision. Find the selection criteria (USPs will emerge from them) and aviod rejection by giving more than minimum in the others.

Hey, 
Great article Ishwar. Have some observations. Communication is required to a) fill information gaps if they are substantial b) to project specifics (USPs). 
The filling gaps will happen in the case of those first few players. These guys will educate and build the market. They reap the advantages that come to the first movers.
now more importantly the second set of players will look at segmenting as you pointed out. Here they would already reply on the work that has been done by the pioneers. Chiefly the work of consumer education. The consumer choice in these cases if of course a weighted result of many expectations. When it comes to USPs it is the skill of finding those 2-3 expectations that would contribute to some 80-90% of the consumer selection process and then see to it that hygiene level is maintained in the other expectations (you need not communicate it as the consumer here is a seeker of information; not a passive guy). Marketeers should not forget that the information dissemination process in electronic devices like cell phones and cameras and other newer forms has reached the next level. No more do we delve only on functionality and no more do we need to say everything. Like does iPhone really need to say much about the device functionalities. I guess most people found out for themselves.

In fact even a 2 MP camera is becoming hygiene in slightly advanced mobile phones of today

Interesting thoughts indeed Abhinav. I agree that the first few players get the option of positioning the product as the de-facto convergence device and should use the opportunity to do so.

But the next few players will look for chinks in the armour of the first few players and will begin search for a focus (they will segment the market). Some features will be better in this convergent device, compared to others. Hence what is defined as convergence today will become hygiene factors in a mobile tomorrow. 

To elaborate - the calendar feature, alarm clock features were also convergent ideas at one point in time, but have now become hygiene factors in any mobile phone. 

Hence the assumption is that eventually, players will have to talk USP again, rather than convergence, and which USP to choose is a problem that they will face

excellent point Ishwar. But still I will say marketers should focus completely on the convergence part of the phone instead of emphasizing on benefits of individual features like camera, music system, GPS etc.. For example, one way of communicating the value of convergence is by focusing on the fact that "With Convergence phone the user needs to carry just one device, instead of carry 4-5 devices like phone, laptop, maps, music system, etc. simultaneously that too at price of one product ". I will try to position my phone as de-facto standard for convergence, like MS OS is for desktop operating system or Blackberry is for accessing email over mobile. Something like "Thanda matlab Coca Cola". Looking forward to your feedback on this.

Thx Abhinav, I mulled over your suggestion and it seems valid. As a marketer, there is still a huge issue. 

Do I say this is a mobile phone, with GPS, smartphone features and an awesome music player facility. Or should I say this is a mobile phone with an awesome music player facility, smartphone features and GPS. What is the order in which I will communicate convergence? 

The consumer will obviously take away one or two key convergence characteristics, that the phone stands for. He will not assume that your device is the best at everything. So your device might do everything, but still be known as a smartphone with a good camera. For music and a great camera, I might choose another brand. 

The fundamentals of positioning bring us right back where we started. You can't be all things to all people, even though convergence is supposed to do exactly that. We still need the phone to stand for something. What it should be, is the problem. 

Looking forward to your thoughts on this

good article. Communicating USP is really a problem in convergence products. But isn't convergence itself the USP of the convergence product. Communicating the utility of convergence is probably communicating the USP of the convergence products.

Absolutely!! Internet has transformed community based marketing from being an engima to a useful tool for every marketer. Well done once again. Looking forward to your next article!!

Thx Ramesh. you are absolutely right that some brands have used communities to build their brands. With the web evolving as it is, the opportunities are immense. Word of mouth has moved on from telling your best friend about a product to telling the world about it. The traditional marketer suddenly has the opportunity to step in and influence Word of Mouth. The web is waiting to be leveraged. Lets hope more marketers step up to the challenge.

Ishwar, really amazing article!! Once again well done!! I agree with you marketing is now less about communication and more about engaging with your costumer. Successful marketers will be one who can create vibrant communities around their products. It is a key skill that every marketer should try to develop. Actually its not a new concept, traditionally brands like Harley Davidson, Apple and Coca Cola have created offline communities and cults around their brands. And these communities or cults have been the main drivers of these brands. Then how is it any different now ? Why is their a sudden realisation that communities based marketing is the disruptive practise is marketing world?