A great example of a powerful value proposition is – UNIQLO. They offer affordable, trendy, high performance every day wear for every one. UNIQLO through its Heatech, Blocktech and Airism technologies offers high performance clothing. UNIQLO genuinely offers anytime, anywhere clothing for everyone. They have thus democratised clothing for our world.

 

Back home in Malaysia, Old Town White Coffee has an excellent value proposition that triggers nostalgia and the longing for the good old days. It is a place to relax, chill out and hang out with people like the old times with traditional coffee and Malaysian food. They used taglines earlier like … Take your time and then Aroma of good times… This makes the brand relatable to Malaysians.

 

A few big businesses and brands have missed the mark. For instance,  MAYBANK whose value proposition expressed as Humanising Financial Services did not hit the bulls eye with their tagline… This value proposition is not relevant or relatable because, today a bank or telco had better be human, personal and convenient. This tagline is antiquated and reminds one of the 1990s… Remember Nokia in the 1990s claimed that it was Humanising Technology. That certainly made sense then. Today it simply makes no sense and is not going to cut it with customers. Another example from Malaysia is AXIATA. It misses the mark with its tagline – Advancing Asia…. This is a very self - indulgent, boastful and inflated value proposition. It is neither customer focused nor credible.

 

A good value proposition needs to be relevant, credible and customer focused. Bad and mediocre value propositions tend to be egoistic and focus attention on their own brand or business instead of their customers.

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Written by,

Karthik Siva

Chairman of GEX

World Renowned Strategist

Nation Branding Expert

Advisor to Governments

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