How to make a product that sells itself (The Purple Cow review)

27 May, 2022 27 May, 2022

- Stefano Artuffo

Imagine driving in the countryside, you will surely see hundreds of cows grazing all around, even for kilometers. At a first sight everything is wonderful. Then, within 20 minutes, you'll start ignoring the cows. Everything become common and boring since it's always the same even if these cows are perfect, smart and beautiful. What if, all of a sudden, you see a purple cow? This cow will be remarkable for sure. Being "Remarkable" is the must to achieve.

This is the secret to successful marketing strategies, according to best-selling author Seth Godin. Marketing works to generate interest and be remembered. Each company must be a purple cow, able to dinstiguish itself from all the competitors.

Nowadays every company is facing difficulties in marketing the product even if the product or service is top quality. The main reason is "competition" that causes a lot of noise and make your product disappear completely. Having a good product is not enough. Let's see how you can improve your marketing strategy for your product by making it remarkable.

Make you customers talk about your product

Even if we are living in a digital era, the best advertisement that your product can receive is word of mouth. People are used to advertisement, social medias and ads. After years of being bombarded by continuous messages, the consumer has built its own filters. In order to stand out from the crowd you need to become a purple cow, reinvent yourself and become something memorable. This practice will push people to talk about your product because it's something different. Moreover, people trust other people's opinions.

"You must design a product that is remarkable enough to attract the early adopters, but is

flexible enough and attractive enough that those adopters will have an easy time spreading the idea."

Don't be boring

What if your product is plain and exactly like any other? Paying a lot of money on Google ADS to sell your product is not the right solution. You need to exaggerate and try to go exactly on the opposite direction of your competitors by creating something different. To demonstrate this, Godin cites well-known and fast-growing companies like Krispy Kreme, Apple, and Starbucks. These businesses left behind just-OK customs for practices that are well outside the norm. They embraced the idea of reinvention, looking for the next big trend. Just like a purple cow, the best new marketing ideas are more than exciting, they are wildly imaginative and nearly unbelievable. It's important to be the exact opposite of normal. It's easy to live in the confines of the customary but breaking away from these restraints takes a company in a positive direction.

Safe is risky

In his 2003 book Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable, Godin discusses how something normally bland can be made brilliant with a bit of innovation. However, it's not as simple as it seems. Being new, different, and unique needs to be built into the business model. You must think outside the box and take some risks. Being too conservative will help your competitors to surpass you and gain advantage.

Now that you know much more about the Purple Cow theory of Seth Godin, you can start practicing with it. Of course, if you want to know more about it you should read the book. You can find it on Amazon!