(This post is part of a series created to help you help your advertising agency create effective communications for your business.)

In most briefs to the agency, there will often be a segment where product differentiation is discussed. Simple marketing dictates that you will need to differentiate your product from your competitors. Finding it is the key.

Here’s the bad news: in this day and age of fierce competition and parity products, chances are, you will have trouble filling in that blank, especially since the USP (unique selling point) has been dead since perhaps the seventies.

Here’s the good news: your customer or potential customer can and will probably find one for you anyway.   If there is something that will set apart your product from the rest, or better yet, make it seem like the better the deal, the more advanced formula, the better, faster, bigger or  more effective product, your target  market/customer  will be able to see it.

And even more good news, it’s better that way. Many advertisers have tried time and again to dictate the consumer perception of their product. Some succeed, but many more fail– and for the obvious reasons. They’re too close to the product, and too stuck in what they think of the product.

So here’s a piece of advice. Do a bit of research: test perceptions. If you have the budget, go get the works from a research agency of you can. If you don’t, you can perhaps do a backyard study from among objective and disinterested parties. (No, gathering all the secretaries and messengers from your company does not count.  Well, okay, it does, but that may not be as dependable as, say, people you are not related to or are being paid by you.)

Don’t skip this, and chances are, you’ll get your communications off to a running start. Need help doing that? We’re right here.