Purple Cow by Seth Godin

My notes on “Purple Cow” by Seth Godin

• Remarkable marketing is the art of building things worth noticing right into your product. If it isn’t remarkable, its invisible
• The Advertising Age
  • Before: Word-of-Mouth
  • During: Ever increasing consumer prosperity, and endless consumer desire. Simple formula: Advertise on TV & mass media = increased sales
  • After: Word-of-Mouth with new networks at rocket speed

• Being first in a niche is better than being second in a mass market
  • Eg Yoga books (everyone interested has already bought one)
  • Eg2 Aspirin
  • Eg3 Classical music
• The world = increasing available choices, decreasing available time
  • Obvious targets are gone, not many easy problems to solve
  • Consumers hard to reach because they ignore you
  • Satisfied customers less likely to tell others
• It’s hard to follow the market leader because they did something remarkable to get there. It’s been taken. You can’t be remarkable
• Committees approve TV/mass media advertising after they smooth all the edges and make it safe & dull
• Awareness isn’t enough, sales and action is the true measure
• Case Study: Otis
  • Were the first to optimise their elevator movements
• The curve : Target innovators & early adopters, they are the sneezers. Everyone else will ignore you
  • Eg Digital Cameras – visible, easy to spread (heckle film users), easy to demonstrate, smooth
• It is useless to advertise to anyone – except interested sneezers with influence
• Mass marketeers hate to measure
• Milk the cow & start making the next one
• The opposite of remarkable is “very good”. Boring!
• Case Study: Krispy Kreme
  • Hands out free donuts first
  • Gets distribution everywhere (eg service stations)
  • Has fans who drive for miles to get one (wouldn’t work for bagels)
• Find the market niche first, then make a remarkable product. Not the other way around
• The marketing is built right into The Leaning Tower of Pisa. Is our slogan easy to pass on?
• In almost every market, the boring slot is filled. The one designed to appeal to the largest possible audience
• Case Study: Publicist
  • That focuses not just in the medical industry, not just doctors, but plastic surgeons
  • She knows all of them
  • Now that’s “niche”.
• Is your product the best at anything worth measuring?
• Distinct or Extinct?
• Think of the smallest conceivable market, describe a product to overwhelm it with remarkability. Go from there.