The classic bestseller that taught the business world that safe is risky; very good is bad; and above all, you’re either remarkable or invisible
In 2002, Seth Godin asked a simple question that turned the business world upside down : What do Starbucks and JetBlue and Apple and Dutch Boy and Hard Candy have that other companies don’t? How did they confound critics and achieve spectacular growth, leaving behind formerly tried-and-true brands?
Godin showed that the traditional Ps that marketers had used for decades to get their products noticed-pricing, promotion, publicity, packaging, etc.-weren’t working anymore. Marketers were ignoring the most important P of all : the Purple Cow.
Cows, after you’ve seen one or two or ten, are boring. A Purple Cow, though . . . now that would be something. Godin defines a Purple Cow as anything phenomenal, counterintuitive, exciting . . . remarkable. Every day, consumers ignore a lot of brown cows, but you can bet they won’t ignore a Purple Cow.
You can’t paint your product or service purple after the fact. You have to be inherently purple or no one will talk about you. Godin urges you to emulate companies that are consistently remarkable in everything they do, which drives explosive word of mouth.
Purple Cow launched a movement to create products and services that are worth marketing in the first place. Now this expanded edition includes dozens of new examples from readers who’ve taken the message to heart.
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This is a small book and a quick read and if you’re stuck on the marketing aspect of your business, definitely pick it up. Marketing and business guru Seth Godin makes a few very valid points in this book and backs everything up with real life examples. The drawback is that the book was published in 2002 and a few of the ideas and conclusions are outdate (i.e. his hypothesis that cell phone technology was dead with no further advancements probable) Still, I’ll say it again, he does make some valid points and I found it worth having a look at. It could save you time, money and frustration in the long run.
Hope this helps! Best, Hunter Phoenix [...]
It starts at birth. Go to school, go to college, get married, buy a house, have kids. The education allows for a great career which we stick with for 30-40 years until we retire.
Business also has a model. This model is is being tested now that every business struggles to survive and pushes its cogs, I mean people to the limits. Business does not have to be this way. Purple Cow will take you into a different kind of business.
Chad
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This book has lots of really great ideas for SOME but not all marketers.
The reason I give this one star is because Godin makes big fat generalizations about marketing that are just not true or substantiated, particularly in reference to mass marketing. Mass marketing, TV marketing, and brand dominance through ad spend has not gone away and will NEVER go away.
These pop culture/business/sociology books have been really well received lately because it’s fun to think “all the rules have changed” and give groups of people names (the “sneezers”???). Well, the rules haven’t actually haven’t changed at all. Communication, delivery systems, tactics and operations are the big changing factors. Business strategy, marketing strategy, those are the same. Unfortunately, they make for a pretty dull and analytical read, hence the trend to whoop it up. Thanks, but no thanks. This is a disservice to serious marketers.
Every business owner, every ad agency employee must read this book. It really is REMARKABLE stuff.
It is no longer good enough to be good, a product needs to be “remarkable”. This book has interesting insight for anyone marketing a product. Easy to read in clear understandable to the point language.