Paper Progress

So far I feel like my research has been going pretty well. It helps that I'm in the process of taking a few classes for my major this semester, so everything is going together. I'm learning a lot of things that I didn't know before, and there is a lot more information out there.

I think it will be smart to organize my research paper not only in chronological order, but with the key people as well. As my research continues I can see what information I want to go where, and what information I still want to find out. I think by making an outline like that will make it easier in the end to actually write the paper.

I'm really glad that I chose the history of advertising for my topic because it's helping me to learn more about my major, but it is information that may not be studied in any of my classes. So far things are going very well and I'm looking forward to the rest of the process.

Sources for Rosser Reeves

While I was researching Rosser Reeves, I came across a few sources to use. I found most of the information about him and his life on the internet, but most of the information about the Unique Selling Proposition came from a book that Rosser Reeves wrote himself called "Reality in Advertising." This book is where he proposes the idea of the USP and where he explains it in great detail.

Unfortunately this book is no longer being printed, and has become a collectors item. Because I don't exactly have $800 to buy one on eBay, I have the photocopied pages of parts of the book. I think it will be very useful for my final paper and that the book holds a lot of information relevant to my topic.

Rosser Reeves and his USP

Rosser Reeves is one of the most important figures in the history of advertising, and his idea of the Unique Selling Proposition paved the way for future advertisers. It was in the early 1940s that Reeves came up with the USP. The theory was first proposed to explain why certain advertising campaigns were successful. The idea was that each successful campaign had something unique to offer its consumer. The unique quality, trait, or promise was something that set the brand apart from its competitors.

The USP is simply the one thing you want people to remember about your product after they are exposed to the advertisement. Advertisers strive to come up with a USP for their campaigns today, but it is becoming more and more difficult to form a campaign around a USP.

One of the most classic examples of a USP came from Dominos. “Fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed,” was the slogan that the campaign was centered around. This was revolutionary because no other pizza competitor could promise that the pizza would be delivered in 30 minutes or less. Nothing was said about the taste or quality of the pizza, but a speedy delivery put Dominos ahead of the competition.

The Unique Selling Proposition is one of the most important advertising strategies in the business. Rosser Reeves came up with a new idea that was ground-breaking for his time, and he paved the way for future advertisers.

The image of Rosser Reeves was found at ciadvertising.org.