Thoughts on Purple Cow 18.February.2005
First off, a Purple Cow is what Seth Godin (the author) calls something that is remarkable. Why? Because who’s seen a Purple Cow before, sure its a bar on the side of the Mississippi, but for Seth its something remarkable. The main point of the book is that remarkable things sell very well. The companies that make them are profitable and its generally good to be associated with a Purple Cow.
In the book he mentions that the new Beetle was a Purple Cow, it’s unique shape helped sell it. He also claims that mass marketing is dead (TV and Magazine ads). Right now the iPod is an incredibly popular success, beyond the realm of explanation. The new Beetle and the iPod are not successful because of, but I doubt they would be without their, mass advertising. Their ads are different. The Beetle ads focus on its shape. They tell you how cool the shape is. They tell you why its cool enough to talk to your friends about. The iPod ads are very cool, surprisingly simple and detail no specs beyond maybe how many songs it can hold. Even that is all within the last 5 seconds of the commercial. The rest is raising awareness, and lets people know the term “iPod”, so that when the word of mouth gets to them they know what their friends are talking about. I remember when I wanted to rave about the iPod, but had to explain myself just to talk about it. People don’t want to wait through that. But if they’ve heard of the iPod, then I can tell them why its so cool. The book points out that just plastering your message across the mass media won’t work. I challenge Seth to explain the recent success of prescription drugs. They are heavily advertised in the mass media and have become a gold mine. They do sell well thanks to mass marketing, but they have a very remarkable feature that most products don’t respect: the supply vs demand price model.
There are hundreds of examples of Purple Cow products listed in the book. One overlying theme is a particular product’s appeal to a niche market. That particular appeal makes something remarkable. People who fit within the market like things made especially for them and will tell their like-minded friends about it. The only problem with this is you will have a hard time growing into a huge company just focusing on a small group of people. Is that a bad thing? I don’t think so, as long as you don’t mind being a smaller company. If the niche likes you enough they might be willing to pay higher prices (which turns to higher margins for you) and your company can become very popular, but your not going to be the next Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is a Purple Cow company cause they’re so darn cheap, almost everyone wants to spend less money, but being cheap isn’t the only way to become a Purple Cow. I would be willing to bet that the CEOs and entry level employees who are making great products are going to enjoy their daily jobs more than a huge corporation. So being niche forever might not be a bad thing. Only defending one type of lawsuit? You can only get so big once you get yourself in the box, but when people need that lawsuit defended they’ll come to you. You’ll never be the biggest grosser in the lamp industry selling “Just Bulbs”, “Just Shades” or “Just Boxes” but you can be successful in your own little market.
There are a few companies that are mentioned as Purple Cows. Some I don’t know where he gets his intel. Best Buy a remarkable company? What is he thinking. Has he ever had to go to the service counter at a Best Buy? (Ok, a crack team of a hundred 16 year old boys is remarkable but not in a way that makes me want to go back to Best Buy.) Companies that are remarkable can’t always stay that way. When the book was written a grand 2 years ago. Krispy Kreme was a Purple Cow company, but another Purple Cow came into the pasture (the Atkins Diet) and blew them away. Now they are officially struggling. One company that isn’t mentioned, and one of the most remarkable large companies I’ve ever heard of is Gore. Gore isn’t run like every other company in the world. They make everything from guitar strings, to jacket linings to dental floss. They just invent stuff until they come up with something they can market. They don’t run their company like any other company either, for example there are no bosses and no 12+ step corporate ladder.
The real trick to the whole Purple Cow idea, one that Seth almost entirely skips over, is that just because you have a remarkable product or service doesn’t mean you are going to succeed. There just might be no way for anyone to first hear about your product. It might be a remarkable product but unless you get people talking about it its not going to be a true Purple Cow. If the mass marketing system is dead they we’re going to start relying on word of mouth and focused advertising. The problem with relying on the Purple Cow is there is no guarantee you’ll make (another) one. On page 103 the author points out that bigger and bigger advertising campaigns can’t be maintained, they’ll just lead to flameout. But he fails to admit that always trying for the next Purple Cow can lead to the same thing. Seth does acknowledge out that you’ll probably have to fail, several times, before you’ll find one. Seth, I think to his chagrin, admits that you need to milk the Purple Cows for all their worth until they turn brown and boring.
This Purple Cow making is a tough challenge. But a good thing to try in our work and even personal lives. We need to be remarkable people, let our actions and attitudes show other people that we are remarkable. This is especially true of Christians, we can’t conform to the good things of this world. It would be incredible if we have such a reputation for being such a remarkable person that you don’t need a résumé, but they our references speak for us as Mr. Godin suggests Even when you are trying to make stuff that is very good, you are not going to make a Purple Cow. There is tons of very good stuff out there, and that’s the problem. (Most) people aren’t trying to make crap, they’re trying to make good stuff. You have to make something that is better than very good, you have to make something that has “it”.