Brand Management - from USP to HSP

In the future brands will increasingly be owned by the consumer.

In the 1950,s branding belonged to USP - the Unique Selling Proposition. This ensure that the physical product, rather than the brand, was the core differential.

By the 1060,s we began seeing the first signs of true Emotional Selling Proposition (ESP) brands. Similar products were perceived as different primarily because of an emotional attachment.

During the 1980,s the Organizational Selling Proposition (OSP) emerged. The organization or corporation behind the brand in fact became a brand. It was the organization,s philosophy that distinguished it from others.

By the 1990,s brands has gained enormous strenght in their own right, and the Brand Selling Proposition (BSP) took over. The brand was stronger than the physical dimensions of the product.

The world of communication constantly changes. Interaction has became one of their most catalysts. The concept of interactivity has forced us to rethink each and every communication, evaluating and designing it for ever-demanding consumer. Technological innovation paved the way for MSP brands (Me Selling Proposition), wich saw consumers taking ownership of their brands.

There's every indication that branding will move beyond the MSP, into an even more sophisticated realm - reflecting a brave new world where the consumer desperately needs something to believe in - and where brands very well might provide the answer.

This realm is the HSP - Holistic Selling Proposition. HSP brands are those that not only anchor themselves in tradition but also adopt religious characteristics at the same time they leverage the concept of sensory branding as a holistic way of spreading the news. Each holistic brand has its own identity, expressed in its every message, shape, symbol, ritual and tradition.

Brand Sense - Martin Lindstrom, Kogan Page, 2005