Bud Light has saturated the market with their new positioning strategy: “Drinkability.” I want to address this because, to me, it is a poster-child for a bad positioning strategy. Don’t get me wrong, the Bud Light commercials are well-produced, but apparently, some marketing genius fell asleep during differentiation class. “Drinkability” is not a valid USP, or Unique Selling Proposition. Dictionary.com defines “drinkable” as simply “suitable for drinking.”

Congratulations to Bud Light for choosing a USP that every other fluid on the planet shares. Creek water has drinkability. And, as fans of Discovery Channel’s Man vs Wild know, even urine has drinkability if you’re stranded in the desert. So, why did Bud Light pick that term as their new positioning angle?

First, some Marketing 101. The goal of any marketing campaign is to differentiate itself from the competition. Tell your market how and why you’re different from the other guy so that they’ll buy your stuff. Unique Selling Proposition (or USP) is one theory that explains how to do this. A strong USP is supposed to have three components:

1. It should make a proposition that has a specific, tangible benefit. “If you buy Brand X, you will get ___________.” No fluff, no foolery.
2. The proposition must be unique. “Brand X is the only product available in stores that ____________.” Whatever “blank” is shouldn’t be something that the competition offers.
3. The proposition must be strong enough to convince a lot of people to switch brands. “Unlike our competition, Brand X does not have harmful side effects.”

Now, back to “Drinkability.” The word doesn’t fit any of these criteria, except the first one and that is a very weak argument. So why pick that word? The answer, IMHO, lies between the lines of the ads. Watch this ad…

What’s the message? Bud Light doesn’t fill you up. Now, watch this ad…

What’s the message? Bud Light tastes better than the competition.

Hmmm, starting to sound familiar? Tastes great, less filling. The whole message is a throwback to Miller Lite’s hugely successful campaign…

Some things just never get old…

Bottom line: “Drinkability” is a smoke & mirrors campaign. Bud Light is trying to edge in on Miller’s position. After all, “taste” and “healthy” are two very strong USP’s. The question is: will it work? All I can say is that Mr. and Mrs. Consumer and their Consumerlings aren’t stupid.

Is “Drinkability” a tangible benefit? I suppose it is, since one can, in fact, drink it. Is “Drinkability” unique to Bud Light? No, far from it. And, finally, will re-hashing the “tastes great, less filling” argument inspire mass exodus from Miller Lite to Bud Light? Very doubtful. After all, why would Miller Lite drinkers change when they already have “tastes great, less filling”?

Puzzling move by Bud Light.

But it’s not the first time a brand has chosen a weak USP. On a local level, we see business owners every day who select weak USP’s. Here are some examples:

• Quality- unless you can point to some very specific, very tangible feature
• Hard work- everyone works hard
• Integrity- this should go without saying
• Good Service- all businesses claim to provide good service

What are some examples of potentially strong USP’s? Here are a few:

• Taste- as long as you can maintain it
• Price- be very careful with this one…it can come back to bite you in bad way
• Expertise- if you can be specific…it’s not enough to say “I’m an expert.”
• Atmosphere- if you can really deliver it
• One-of-a-Kind Product or Service- if you’ve got it, flaunt it
• Selection- be careful of this one, too…but, if handled right, it can work
• Performance- “it keeps going and going and going…” Ring a bell?
• Self-Worth- possibly the strongest avenue of all

To sum it up, every brand should have a strong USP as the core of their positioning strategy. That USP should provide a specific and tangible benefit, it should be unique to that brand, and it should inspire consumers to change. If it doesn’t do those things, you’re going to be in trouble in the long-term. You will suffer from a weak position in the market.

When you select your USP, try to do a better job than Bud Light and “Drinkability.” Because, unlike Anheuser-Busch, you probably don’t have millions to waste on a bad marketing strategy.