The Purple Cow

Another Seth Godin classic!  In this book Seth Godin explains that most of the “needs” people have are now met by one or more products which with the rise of retail and the internet are now widely available.  The brands that enjoyed the benefits of being first to market coupled with investment in large broad above the line advertising 20 years ago now have a dilemma.  They have to continuously invest in that mass advertising just to stay still, yet whilst doing so they cannot grown market share any further.

This means that introducing new products is even harder than ever, but it does not require the mass advertising investment that was required 20 years ago.  Instead, marketers must ingrate their marketing strategies and ideas into the very fabric of the products they develop.  Furthermore, for the product  to have any impact or chance of success the strategy and or execution of strategy must be remarkable.  That is to say, it is no longer remarkable to get your milk from a cow….. you need to find a purple cow to make it remarkable and differentiated!  For a product to succeed it must be truly remarkable in its packaging, the advertising, the message, etc etc.

If you are able to achieve this Seth Godin explains that then it is possible to generate an immediate interest and engagement with your audience who will share the idea with likeminded people.  Seth describes people who he calls “Sneezers”, people who will embrace your product but crucially enthuse about it to other people often through new media applications.  This can deliver the momentum needed to build a business.

The essence of The Purple Cow is to transform your whole business from being ordinary to remarkable, and that in a way becomes your overarching marketing strategy.  This in many ways ties in nicely with the Values Led approach that is described in Ben and Jerry’s book the Double Dip.