Are You a Brown Cow or a Purple Cow?

Imagine driving down a country road. You see a field of cows. Brown cows, black cows, spotted cows. After a few minutes, they all blend into the scenery. They become invisible. Now, imagine you see a purple cow.

You would stop. You would point. You would tell all your friends.

This is the central metaphor of Seth Godin's revolutionary marketing book, Purple Cow. Potential customers have endless choices, simply being good is not enough.

The Purple Cow approach is about one thing: being so remarkable that you market yourself.

It's a concept that completely shifts the focus of marketing from advertising to product development itself. Instead of creating an average product and spending a fortune to make people notice it, the Purple Cow strategy is about building something so inherently unique and compelling that it markets itself through word-of-mouth.

Why the Brown Cow Approach is Dead

For decades, the standard business model was what Godin calls the TV-Industrial Complex. Companies would:

1. Create a safe, average product for the mass market.
2. Spend millions on TV ads and other traditional media to convince people to buy it.
3. Use the profits to buy more ads and repeat the cycle.

This model is fundamentally broken in today's world. Consumers are not just apathetic to traditional advertising; they actively avoid it. We have TiVo, streaming services, ad blockers, and an endless stream of content to distract us. We’ve learned to tune out the brown cows.

Playing it safe and following industry norms is the riskiest move you can make today because it guarantees you'll be invisible.

The New P in Marketing: The Purple Cow

The old Ps of marketing—Product, Price, Promotion, Place—are still relevant, but they've been overshadowed by a new, more critical P: The Purple Cow.

The core idea is that your product, service, or even your brand's experience must be so remarkable that it's worthy of attention; striking.

This isn't about creating something bizarre for the sake of it. It’s about challenging the status quo and building something that people have to talk about.

A remarkable product is not just a little better; it's so different, so surprising, or so valuable that it makes people stop and take notice.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Your Purple Cow

So, how do you go from a brown cow to a purple one? It requires a fundamental shift in mindset from how do we sell this? to how do we make this something people want to talk about?

Step 1: Target the Sneezers

You can't be remarkable to everyone. Instead, focus on a small, passionate group of people Godin calls sneezers—the early adopters and innovators who are actively looking for new and better solutions.

These are the people who will be the first to adopt your product and, most importantly, will be the most enthusiastic about sharing it with their friends and network.

• Who are they? Think of the people who line up for a new iPhone, the foodies who seek out the newest pop-up restaurant, or the tech enthusiasts who spend hours on specialized forums.
• Why them? A remarkable product is an idea virus that spreads from person to person. The sneezers are the ones who get infected first and, by their nature, are most likely to sneeze the idea to the next group of people: the early majority.

Step 2: Innovate Where It Counts

You don't have to reinvent the wheel. Look for an area of your business that is ripe for disruption and create something truly unique. This could be:

• The Product Itself: The first iPod wasn't just another MP3 player; it was a completely new way to carry your music collection. Netflix didn't just rent movies; they eliminated late fees and created a subscription model that disrupted the entire video rental industry.
• The Service or Experience: Zappos didn't just sell shoes; they built a remarkable customer service experience with free returns and a 365-day guarantee that made people want to talk about them. Warby Parker didn't just sell glasses; they created a try-at-home model that made the process convenient and risk-free.
• The Packaging or Design: A product with unique or sustainable packaging can be a purple cow in a sea of generic boxes. The Ordinary differentiated itself in the crowded skincare market with its minimalist, science-based packaging and shockingly low prices.
• The Price Model: Dollar Shave Club created a low-cost, convenient subscription service for a product (razors) that was previously sold in an inconvenient and overpriced way. This new business model was so compelling that it became a marketing engine in itself.

Step 3: Embrace the Risk of Being Different

Being remarkable means taking risks. Not every risk will pay off, and some people won't like what you've done. That's a good thing. If you're not generating some criticism or ridicule, you're probably not being different enough.

• The Opposite of Remarkable is Very Good: Very good is a trap. It's safe, it's predictable, and it's boring. Factories and efficient processes are built to produce very good products. But very good is not worth talking about. The fear of being ridiculed is what keeps most companies playing it safe, which is precisely why you should do the opposite.
• Make it Parody-Worthy: If you're doing something truly unique, you might become the subject of jokes or parodies. This isn't a bad thing—it's a sign you've created something so striking that it's entered the cultural conversation.

Step 4: Make Marketing a Part of Your Product

Instead of treating marketing as a last-minute addition, build the talkability into the product from the start.

• Create a Wow Moment: What is the moment in your customer journey that will make them say, Wow, you have to see this? This could be the engaging unboxing experience, the clever way the product works, or a surprising bonus feature. GoPro's most effective marketing wasn't a TV ad; it was the incredible, user-generated content from their customers who were empowered to capture their own adventures.
• The Product is the Advertisement: Instead of shouting from the rooftops, let your product do the talking. The viral success of many modern brands is not from expensive ad campaigns, but from satisfied customers sharing their authentic experiences on social media.

The Purple Cow approach is a challenge to traditional thinking. It’s a reminder that your most powerful marketing tool isn't your ad budget—it's the remarkable, unique value you provide.

Stop being just another brown cow, and start being the one they can't stop talking about.

Keep Crushing!
- Sales Guy