Unique Selling Proposition

In the first step, managers should look at their brand from their customer’s perspective, so basically they have to get in their “customers’ shoes” and see what their decision-making process before a purchase looks like, e.g. what other choices do they have and what could be the second best alternative. In order to do that, they should first define who their customers are and how they perceive the brand. This whole step is about creating an identity and differentiating the brand from the others, so that customers know it, recognise it and are able to recall it later. This is where the concept of Unique Selling Proposition comes into the picture, which means that it is placed at the very base of the pyramid. The basic idea is that it is very

This is basically the rational level, whereas the “imagery” is related to the social and psychological level. Imagery dimensions, in contrast to performance dimension, are less rational. They consist of User’s profiles, purchase and usage situations, personality and values, history, heritage and experiences. User’s profiles go into detail about the demographic and psychographic characteristics. Purchase and usage situations thoroughly analyse the type of channel, ease of purchase and the time, location and context of usage. Personality and values focus on sincerity, excitement, competence and sophistication whereas heritage and history tend to explain nostalgia and memories related to the brand.
An example to illustrate this distinction between the two, is Patagonia Sportswear which makes high quality outdoor clothing and equipment from recycled materials.
Patagonia’s brand performance is expressed through its reliability, durability and the usage of recyclable materials whereas its brand imagery is emphasised by the support it shows in numerous environmental causes and

In addition to the customers’ judgements and assessment towards the brand which is part of a rational level, they also respond to it on an emotional level according to the feelings they get from the brand such as warmth, fun, excitement, security, social approval and self-respect. This tier is of managerial relevance in the sense that they have to grasp how they could enhance the brand’s credibility and how they can improve the positive feelings of their