I recently read Purple Cow by Seth Godin (blog). Amazon.com’s customer reviews give it four out of five stars (based on 115 reviews) and is ranked number 730 in sales. If you’re not familiar with Seth Godin, he’s a contributing writer for Fast Company, has started a number of successful companies, and “has changed the way people think about marketing, change and work”.
Godin begins the book with a history of how marketing has worked. There was the time before advertising where word of mouth made people popular. Then advertising came, where a company could reach a vast number of people and become very successful. Now we’re upon the After Advertising stage. We have less time to analyze products. People are satisfied, new products are ignored, and word of mouth is now faster. Why? Because we don’t have the time to research our choices, we listen to our friends’ valuable opinions. Proof: I bought this book. I read Fast Company and know of Seth Godin, I’ve read his blog, I’ve heard speakers talk and mention his book. Therefore, I walk into Barnes and Noble, I look at the vast ‘Marketing’ section, and immediately can pick out a purple book cover which I’ve already heard about. The guy kneeling below me was looking at the backs of dozens of books. Sadly, he no longer represents the typical consumer.
The point that Godin drives home in the beginning of the book is the ineffectiveness of the (majority of) traditional advertisements. He uses good examples of how television ads no longer play a role in driving products. Coke hadn’t seen an increase in sales even though it had created some of the most entertaining ads at one point. He also tells readers that he hates the Wall Street Journal because full-page ads cost “more than a house in Buffalo, New York”. Yet, when he asks a group of WSJ readers to name two ads they had just read past, they can’t complete the task. He notes though, “Just because it’s an ad, doesn’t mean it can’t be remarkable”.
Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department. -David Packard
Godin strongly suggests that its not about creating an image through marketing; it’s through the product. “The marketing is the product, and vice versa.” Keep in mind his evidence throughout the book is not all anecdotal; he uses companies we all know (and love): Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, JetBlue and even Tide. He goes even further to suggest that these successful companies are all “cheating”; why aren’t you? This book was densely filled with thought-provoking case-studies and conclusions. His ‘takeaway points’ were like little pearls of wisdom provided immediately after his analyses.
One may wonder, then, why don’t we see more Purple Cows? It’s not because we’ve run out of great ideas, its because people are afraid of standing out. Godin provides that the American education system is an example. Children are trained to play it safe and follow the rules because, assumingly, those are the “best ways to avoid failure”. But, as Godin proves, “fitting in is failure”.
Hey, if it was easy to become a rock star, everyone would do it!
Godin illustrates that being risky is the safest thing you can do. The rewards that Purple Cows reap are amazing, whether it’s a hit-record or best-selling book. Seth Godin’s book was an enjoyable read that provided fun stories and intelligent insight. It’s a quick read and highly recommended.
The idea behind the quotes would be people would talk about the comments on the cups. I can picture myself chatting with the barista, but I don’t usually find the 6am “pre-caffeinated” to be overly warm and chatty. Who knows, perhaps some discussion will arise. But, there certainly is some potential for insightful, respectful conversations to place. Heck even if they don’t occur, reading one quote from Aristotle would certainly beat picking up the in-shop copy of USAToday.
