Don’t have a cow, man!

Have a purple cow!

I’ve just finished reading the book Purple Cow – Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin. At first impression the thinking behind the Purple Cow is obvious – no matter what the economic circumstance your best chance of business success lies in producing a totally remarkable product or service.

But there’s a lot more to the Purple Cow than that. In today’s mass media and information overload it takes a lot more to get you or your business noticed than a simple ad design, an appropriate logo and strapline or catchy jingle. As Godin succinctly says, it’s “no longer good enough to be good enough” when very good is an everyday occurrence and seldom rates a mention. Hanging out your shingle and running an advertisement in mainstream media is no longer a path to success. Today the most successful businesses are exceptional, remarkable or simply amazing. And that’s where Purple Cow thinking comes in. The book is full of examples where companies have discovered their particular ‘Purple Cow’ and gone on to enjoy the rewards.

A Purple Cow sets you apart from other players. It’s a dynamic point of difference, an ‘out of left field’ approach, a special service or a remarkable product that nobody else offers – yet. And all really successful companies have at least one ‘Purple Cow’. In fact many of the most successful Purple Cow companies are often embarking on finding their next Purple Cow to stay at the forefront of the game. Once you have your particular Purple Cow, your competitors are going to want one too!

Unfortunately the book is not a manual on creating a Purple Cow. There is no plan to follow. There are no rules. A genuine Purple Cow is something that is remarkable in just the right way, at the right time. Hindsight is a wonderful thing – it’s easy to look at a successful business and see their Purple Cow, but without the benefit of hindsight the Purple Cow is a lot harder to spot.

There is, however, a methodology to developing a Purple Cow. Go for the edges. The marketing checklist has been spoken of for years and includes such things as product, pricing, promotion, positioning, publicity and packaging. Review the checklist as it applies to your product to mark out where the edges are. Then test which edge is the most likely to deliver the marketing and financial results that you seek.

Purple Cow thinking is best summed up by the two word headline of Apple Computer’s famous 1997 “Think Different” campaign.

For more information on Purple Cow thinking visit the Purple Cow website www.apurplecow.com or the author’s website www.sethgodin.com.

In the current economic climate, it’s the remarkable companies that are going to survive and prosper. So read the book and think about what your particular Purple Cow might be. And when you’re ready to take it to market, we’d be happy to help!