Most New Year’s resolutions are broken within weeks. But my resolution of 12 months ago and my first resolution ever is still a big part of my life.

In the advertising business (where I began my career) brand strategists are always looking to promote their clients’ “unique selling proposition"—some quality of the product (be it real or imagined) that sets it apart from the pack. The marketers of Champagne—long associated with celebration, romance, and sophistication— understood this concept way before Madison Avenue’s heyday.