Schlitz, Cross-Pollination and USP’s

What do they all have in common?

All copywriters, founders, coaches and millionaire marketers have picked one niche rabbit hole to go down and they keep their heads buried there.

But the most unfortunate part of all of that?

They miss out on the opportunity for the BEST ideas in business. The kinds of inspiration and strategies that come from, not your competitors, but from lateral industries.

Hear me out.

You’re not going to last or scale by copying the same strategies your competitors are using for the next ten years.

You’ve got to find SOME way to stand out. Whether that’s as a coach, a consultant or even an online supplement company. And the best way to find out exactly how you need to make yourself different is by copying OTHER industries.

Let me tell you a story.

In the early 1920’s there were about 10 different breweries aggressively competing for the same market share.

Schlitz beer used this exact strategy to catapult from the number 8 brewery in the country to the number 1 seller—in just 6 months...

Back then everyone was pushing the exact same message “Our Beer is Pure”. In order to try and grab a higher place in the market, Schlitz brought on a consultant to drive more sales. The first thing they did was take him on a tour of their brewery. And he was blown away by what he learned.

Schlitz sat right on Lake Michigan and, even though the lake was very clean back then, they drilled two 5 thousand-foot wells to find the right combination of water and minerals to make the best possible beer.

Then, they went through 1,623 experiments over a span of five years to grow the finest mother yeast for taste and flavor.

Plus they distilled all their water before brewing, heating it to five thousand degrees then cooling it down to condense THREE separate times.

After hearing the overwhelming amount of work that went into producing even a single bottle of beer, the consultant told them they should tell consumers about all the extraordinary measures they took to brew.

Schlitz management asked him, “Why would we do that? Every other brewery does the same things we do.”

The consultant said “But no one in your industry explains it. The first person who tells the story and explains exactly how, and the specific reasons they do something, will hold a distinct spot in the marketplace from then on.”

You know where I think he got that idea? Steel and manufacturing companies.

Take a look at this old Steel Service ad.

Compared to their competitors, there is absolutely NO perceivable difference between finished products.

But, there’s endless opportunity for whoever takes the time to tell their story just a little bit differently.

And you can do the EXACT SAME THING with your USP.

I challenge you to highlight one benefit your industry provides and cover it in more detail or from a different angle than anyone else is doing.

Watch what happens to your sales...

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