How to Write a Single Minded Proposition (SMP)
You must be smart, you must be disciplined, and you must take your time. In our backgrounds in the large agency world, SMP’s were often crafted with tons of market research behind them.
For example, if a laundry detergent was our product – and once upon a time it was, research was conducted that asked and told us… what do consumers really want in a laundry detergent? Questions like what are any emotional connections consumers have with their laundry detergent? What is current belief/perception about the laundry detergent? What is the current belief/perception of my closest competitor laundry detergent(s)? These questions and answers can offer tremendous insight into the hearts and mind of the consumer, and enable your brand to find a way in.
Without the benefit of a massive budget for research, you can still take a look at these questions. We sometimes conduct small focus groups. When done correctly, it’s a fabulous tool. Some of our best consumer insights come from a group of 10-12 target audience consumers. So once you have this research, you should be able to test two or three Single Minded Propositions.
Now it’s time to drill down. You are taking the single most important and compelling thing about the brand and turning it into a SINGLE SENTENCE that will empower the creative work, and creating the best chance for that work to speak to the consumers.
TIPS for Crafting Your Single Minded Proposition
Know the product or service
We have a restaurant/bakery client. We eat the food. We dine there at different times throughout the week. We order a variety of food. We go back into the kitchen to see what goes on. What stands out? What is it about the restaurant that is different and unique? How is it better than the competition?
Commit to your SMP
This is when you will be overcome by the urge to put all the amazing things in one long, run on sentence for your USP. DON’T DO IT. What can your brand own? It must be single minded. It must be compelling. And it must be one sentence.
List the benefits
What are the benefits of your single minded proposition? You can have one, or you can have many. Write it down in order of importance. In the case of the restaurant…fresh ingredients, hand crafted one of a kind desserts, a pride and passion poured into creating great tasting food and desserts, and artful creativity… just to name a few!
Use your SMP as a beacon for all your creative work
Al the creative executions that come after should be “falling out” of the umbrella SMP. Often the creatives come up with a creative, even shorter way to say the USP, which is what we did with our Restaurant/Bakery Client, Alpine Bakery. Then you’ve got yourself a TAG line. In this case our SMP was three little words….”Taste the Love”. However, before it was a Tag Line is was a headline.
We often roll out Tag Lines as Headlines when we introduce a brand, we repeat that practice, then ultimately place the Tag Line next to the brand’s name and it becomes part of their logo. In case of Alpine Bakery it shows up on boxes, take-out bags, pizzas boxes, menus, HTML emails, website, and all social media. We hashtag it on social media and it ultimately becomes synonymous with the brand, a part of the brand… its rallying cry.
We’d love to some memorable, creative work for you. But remember, creative work without a strategically sound SMP is short sighted and won’t build your brand. We’d love to help you craft your SMP, and do some amazing creative work that can grow your business and develop your brand. Let’s get going!
You can take a closer look at our Restaurant/Bakery Client Website Here www.alpinebakeries.com.