Purple Cow: Transform Your Business By Being Remarkable (2003) - Plot & Excerpts
A very light but significant read. Finished it in one sitting because the idea was very simple, yet underutilized, and the book is only 160 pages long. I'm gradually becoming a fan of Seth Godin ever since I finished the marvelous All Marketers are Liars. As an online entrepreneur, I find his work very informative that just makes sense. A lot of the stuff he puts out seems to be common sense, but common sense is not common, and I'm glad that his justifications to his ideas are clearly laid out in a simple language any would-be marketer can understand. The whole points of this books are, be remarkable by being very different from your competitors and when starting out, target only 1 specific niche before expanding. With these concepts in mind, it's becoming clearer that most of the businesses out there have no differentiation whatsoever, whether it be offline or online. For example, when I go out on the street of the majestic Bangkok city (sarcasm intended, it's horrible here), most of the vendors sell the exact same thing their competitors, who are right next to them, are selling. There's no "remarkable", as Seth Godin would put it, or any USP. What's especially prevalent are the street food vendors selling noodles: they are the exact same noodles with fish balls and everything. If you've tested one stall, you've tested all. Does this mean they're not selling? Of course not. They are, as long as the location is right, there's always demand during rush hour from office worker people. But will they thrive with this "business model"? Of course not. After finishing this book, it reminded me of a news story that has just gone viral in Thailand recently. A regular street vendor was on the cover story, but not because the food was good or anything, but because the vendor was pretty (to the Thai people's eye anyway. God knows what's in their eyes). That's it! Sales came pouring in because of this one differentiation. Sex always sells I suppose...Even though I don't think that would create a sustainable business, it's still something for people to talk about, and it's definitely better than nothing. Essentially, people don't buy the product; they buy the experience and the right to share the story. Otherwise, Rolex would not exist and you can buy a regular watch that does the EXACT THING for a few bucks. Let's talk about Rolex for a minute, since at the time of this writing the Walking Dead Mid Season 5 Finale was just over and I have nothing better to do. If you're a tennis fan like I am, you'd know the company used Roger Federer in one of their commercials in the past. They tried to associate the image of being a champion with the watch. I don't know about you, but to me, they conveyed it pretty nicely. A simple watch is no longer a watch; it's a symbol of pride, confidence, and ambition which only the champs enjoy. If you can afford the watch, you know you're an ambitious individual all right, since it's the cost of a small baby if you compare it to 99% of the watch out there. Oh yeah, one more thing. At the time of this writing I'm about to start selling my product on Amazon for the first time. According to my research and what I've seen so far, there's tons of products out there that just look the exact same or are very similar. There's very little attempt of branding or differentiating themselves from the competitors. This obviously depends on certain categories and products, but as long as you have this type of mindset while browsing through the listing you'll know what I mean. Many people out there are playing the price war. I must admit that I used to be one of them with that type of mindset when I started out doing online. Why? you may ask, since it's blatantly obvious after reading the book that that's the last thing you should do. Well, because it's much easier and requires much less thinking. In order to really differentiate yourself, you've got to put a lot of work into it and it's a work in progress. If you're attending the price war, however, you could make instant profit right away, albeit small and unsustainable that would obviously cost you in the long run. Doesn't mean that it doesn't work in the short run though, it does, and that's a scary thing to keep in mind...I suppose that's a good news for people who are putting effort into branding and differentiation. This creates higher barrier of entry, intellectually speaking, since it requires more work and hassle upfront. Just remember most people are lazy, and you'll be fine. Do the opposite by investing the time and effort early on so that in the long run you're set. The next question would be how to find your Purple Cow. That's the million dollar question that'll plague my depleted and naive intellect from now on...Ok. Since I mentioned the Walking Dead and miss it so much, let's talk about it a little bit. By the way, this analysis could be totally wrong but let's give it a go. In the last episode, Beth, who has been one of the main characters of the show since Season 2 (?), died (thanks again the Walking dead fan page for spoiling it before I got to watch). A lot of main characters have been killed off in the past and it ALWAYS shocks the viewers, especially Hershell's death which took me a few days to recover. Well, you could say that this is their Purple Cow, just like what Games of Throne has been doing, although that's what I've heard since I'm not a fan and dozed off 10 minutes in the first episode. What's really different about these immensely popular shows and average joes is their nature of being unpredictable and breaking the audience's hearts by making us falling in love with these characters, and stabbing them in the guts when we least expect. Basically, the tagline is: no one is safe. We'll even kill off your most beloved characters. What? You think we won't kill off Lori or Shane, think again (evil laugh). Let's compare it with an EXTREME example: Chuck. I mean, this is another favorite series of mine and I wouldn't wanna dissect or talk bad things about it, but it's soooooo darn PREDICTABLE. Chuck and the gorgeous Sarah (half the reason I watch the series) CANNOT die. Period. In every single episode, the main characters are somehow in danger, the bad guy's about to shoot them, then miraculously 1 second literally before the shot's fired, they're saved. Somehow. By Casey, who's another agent, or some sort of luck, like the bad guy got a heart attack or missed his grandma. And the bad guy ALWAYS talks too much, instead of, you know, killing them like any evil person in a realistic situation would. In the Walking Dead? Beth stabbed the cop lady unexpectedly, then the cop lady TOTALLY and unexpectedly blew her brains out. Boom. That simple. No one saw that death coming, except for those fallen souls like me who saw the spoiler from the fan page. Thanks again. Ok, one more thing. This reminds me of the Walking Dead the game. One very important thing to note is, this game, despite having inferior graphics compared to the giants like Assassin's Creed or Call of Duty, is immensely popular and well received. You could say that the popularity stems from the series, but all the likes and comments on Youtube fully support the fact that it's an awesome game. And the answer is so simple. It's a really great game because it's got a really great story, just like in the show. It didn't opt out to being first person shooter that shoots zombies mindlessly. It's got awesome dialog and the characters have depth. You also get your own storyline according to your choices as the game progresses. It's a game that's been tailored for story telling. Can you really chat with your friends about Call of Duty? I mean, what are you gonna say? "Yeah, dude. I walked around and killed a bunch of people." That's the most that you can do with it, although they cast Kevin Spacey in the latest series. For this game, you can talk for hours about the choices the characters made and why you chose certain actions. Why kill off this guy and save that one? Or who's the most moral character and why do you think that is? Why has Kenny gone bad and is he the next governor? Blah blah blah. And I almost forgot, since we're talking about gaming and great stories, how could you forget the Last of Us, the number 1 game of 2013? Yes, it's about killing zombies (again), but that's not why it stood out. It's the god darn story and the relationship between the 2 characters that evolve throughout the game. Their development as individuals is something the audience can relate to and the script is phenomenal. Ten minutes into the game, and you can't help but tear up for one unexpected, shocking outcome. I know I can talk about this game for hours because of how emotional it is to go through the journey. Even one guy posted a video explaining how this game made him want to have a child. It may sound crazy to outsiders, but I find his comment believable and unsurprising.One quick and last thing: the Angry Bird. What's their Purple Cow? To me, I think it's the difficulty of it, which makes players so addicted and wanting to beat it so much. The tagline would be the hardest game you'll every play, or something along those lines. There's millions of game apps out there, and this one stood out because of this. When you get annoyed after losing despite numerous attempts, it creates a story, one that's worth sharing with your friends. Then your friends play it, get frustrated, and share it with their friends. The next thing you know, it's gone viral. It doesn't have to be the best product or service, but it has to give a story worth sharing. The story will in turn satisfy the sharer by making them look more interesting (social value), helping them connect with their loved ones or opposite sex etc. That's what most people truly want. They are not logical. We are emotional creatures, no matter how much we try to refuse it. It's always been like this since our inception millions of years ago. The subconscious mind is mostly in control. Not me though, I'm fairly logical (wink wink).To sum up, this all ties back to creating great stories (All Marketers are Liars) and being different (this book). Hopefully, the examples above illustrated the point correctly.
This was an interesting book that many people I know recommended to me. It has an interesting cover, with a remarkable background of a purple and white cow design. The author states that most products today are boring, quickly forgotten by customers. What we need is a product that people remember and will talk about it. As implied by the title of this book, when you see a Purple Cow (a remarkable product or idea), you won’t forget it. That’s because products are like cows; they’re either remarkable or invisible. Who’s going to buy an invisible product?Today, a product, or idea, becomes successful if other customers talk about it. They tell friends and family all about it, which in return makes a product well known. This concept helped me understand my own personal buying decisions. For example, a few years ago, I bought a historical fiction book. It wasn’t a book I ever heard of, and I didn’t want to buy a book at that time. So, why did I buy that book? It was because a colleague of mine, someone I respected very much, suggested that I should read it. I took his advice, bought that book, and really enjoyed it. I suggested the book to others, and they too bought and read it. Of interesting note, this historical fiction book later won several prestigious awards and became a blockbuster movie a few years later – yes, I saw the movie and enjoyed it too, seeing it a few times.Now back to the Purple Cow book. The author believes that manufacturers now can no longer successfully market their products to the typical consumer by applying the traditional media marketing strategy. He suggests that most of the consumers are happy with what they have, and that they’re bored with commercials. As such, these consumers today ignore all unwanted advertisements, regardless of what media it is in, including TV, radio and magazines. One of the best ways to effectively advertise a product a few decades ago was through television commercials, with quality profitable products marked “As Seen on TV”. This was because television back then changed the way that products were marketed to the consumers and how the products were created. However, the impact of television commercials faded since then, along with radios, newspapers, and magazines ads.The author believes that the only way you can sell products today is to market to the consumer who is looking for a product to solve one of more problems. This means that advertisements must be targeted to the right people (not to a huge market) in the right way with relevant content. These ads also need to be presented where consumers are actually looking for a product. Targeting ads to everyone is a problem since not everyone wants to buy the same product, meaning advertising money is wasted on people not willing to purchase a product based upon the ad.Although I found the content of this book easy to read and entertaining, it lacked a secret formula for marketing today, such as a successful process for creating a Purple Cow. The author does provide case studies with real stories of companies succeeding with Purple Cows and of companies failing by not remaining remarkable with new Purple Cows. Bottom line is that companies needing to remain profitable in the future must be both innovative and remarkable, not only today but in the future.I enjoyed reading this book, learning some about people’s buying decisions, and believe others will too.
What do You think about Purple Cow: Transform Your Business By Being Remarkable (2003)?
At the heart of this book is the notion of "Moore's idea diffusion curve". It's just a bell-curve that shows innovators (sneezers), early adopters, early/late majority, and laggards. The central theme of the book is that you need to target the front of that curve by appealing your "remarkable" product to them as a niche, and treat them very specially.Contrary to the most popular review here (quite negative) calling this book an unnecessarily expanded essay, I would argue that Godin covers a lot of ground in a concise 137 pages. And you don't need an MBA to understand the principles. This book is required reading for anyone looking to start a business.The most resonating take-away is that marketing has worked its way to the front phases of product development. If the product can't *be* the marketing, then it will fail. This means that developers/engineers need to understand a bit about marketing, and need to be able to include and work with marketers from conception.In the few hours it took to read through "Purple Cow", I've been able to take away quite a few valuable insights:- The days of the "Hurricane Effect" (traditional massive blitz marketing, e.g., TV commercials, banner ads) are over- Understand the importance of the idea curve (a simple concept) and its ripple effect.- Employ market-centric design (marketers need to be a part of early design phase).- At the front of the curve are sneezers -- a very loud group of users who will do your marketing for you.- Treat the sneezers individually and personally, as your most valuable asset. Overwhelm that small target, and please them in every way possible.- You can only attract sneezers by being remarkable (a purple cow, stand out, break the rules, do the unsafe thing, etc).- The marketing *is* the product (the Leaning Tower of Pisa markets itself just in its name), and a good slogan is essential.- If your product is not innovative, start over.- Find an edge of the market, go to it and beyond.- Resist the temptation to "milk the cow" (be ever seeking the next purple cow).If you must pay $[...] for this book, it is well worth it. But given its popularity, you'll likely find many copies at your local library. In reading this you'll probably become a Godin fan. His blog continues to discuss material similar to that found in this book.
—Micah Elliott
I'm being kind with a 4 star rating. While it's a well written book, and I believe most of what Seth says to be true, I was hoping for a guidebook. Instead, he affirmed what I already knew-marketing isn't as effective as it was 10 years ago, marketing doesn't guarantee you'll get noticed, and all of the normal avenues of marketing are no longer the powerhouses. It's not even print vs. digital. It's the remarkable vs. the unremarkable.After reading The Dip (also by Seth Godin), I thought this one would be the perfect follow-up. And it is, but not in the way I expected. The Dip had instructions, steps to take to move forward. Purple Cow has the same direct writing approach, but the instructions were lacking. I understand why. He's saying there is no "right" way or easy answer. If there was an easy answer to success, we'd all be successful. But we know it's not just a lottery, either. You can work towards being successful. His main point, is that humans are overwhelmed with products, choices, and ads. If your company doesn't have something that stands out, you'll get lost in the middle. This is what's happened to me. I provide a great product. But I wasn't the first, I'm not the biggest, the smallest, the cheapest, the most expensive, the easiest, the most difficult, the craziest, the prettiest packaging, the most illusive, the best placement, the fastest, the slowest.....This makes me unremarkable. I'm good, but that doesn't matter. I'm not remarkable. I fall into the wasteland of Google, I'm just another photographer on a page. I can't blame people. They don't want to spend all their time researching the middle. They want someone to tell them what's best, cheapest, etc. I find myself falling into that sometimes as well, though I try to find the people in the middle, because I know what it's like. The quickest answer isn't always going to serve me best, but I admit it saves on time and frustration. And that's what people want.What I found most helpful about this book is the examples he gives of successful companies, why they became successful, how they've stayed successful and why some of them are no longer successful. He breaks apart the product from the marketing, saying that the marketing is important, but the product is more important. This is good! Who wants to be sold crappy products with great advertising?Bottom line, if you're in business for yourself, or if you are an influential person in your company, this is a good book to read. Though it's frustrating and isn't full of easy to-do lists, it's probably the best piece of advice I've heard. And I hate Seth for it. Hopefully one day I'll thank him instead.Favorite Quotes:"Are you obsessed or just making a living?""Let them see that every single industry is feeling the same pain you are.""Well, if you don't have time to do it right, what makes you think you'll have time to do it over?""Cheap is an easy way out of the battle for the Purple Cow."p.93 "The sad truth, though, is that it may be quite a while before the {cell phone} market generates the attention it did five years ago." This made me laugh out loud, because it was written in 2002, but the smart phone was unforeseen. Wow, if we only knew then...."So the question you need to ask yourself is this: If only 6 percent of the most valuable brands used the now-obsolete strategy of constantly reminding us about their sort-of-ordinary product, why do you believe this strategy will work for you?""Will any business that targets a dying business succeed? Of course not. But...targeting a thriving niche in a slow-moving industry can work-if you're prepared to invest what it takes to be remarkable.""No one will argue with you if you claim that Wal-Mart is the biggest, most profitable, scariest retailer on earth. So, when Wal-Mart was frantically trying to catch up with Amazon.com, what did they have plastered on a banner in their offices? "You can't out-Amazon Amazon.""You have to go where the competition is not. The farther the better."
—Catherine
Seth Godin’s book “Purple Cow” is still as much fun as it was when I read it first. And with that Godin proves the his “Purple Cow” is a purple cow in itself. Marketing books are supposed to talk about campaigns, analyze data, show proven ways. Godin does the opposite. He invites the reader to go for the unknown, the things that have not been done before. The most important factors being, “don’t try to target everyone. - - The mass market is dead. - -The mass product is unremarkable. - - Nobody wants to talk about anything that’s unremarkable.”I love this book. – 5 stars.PS: I still believe as I have believed since this book got published that Godin came up with the the name of this book when he (probably) discovered Milka chocolate in his famous trip to Europe. Clearly it was a purple cow to name his book after that. I used to eat this chocolate when I lived in Europe and in decades the idea would not have occurred to me. Highly recommended.Gisela Hausmann, author & blogger
—Gisela Hausmann
