subject: The Purple Cow [print this page] The Purple Cow The Purple Cow
I never saw a purple cow
I never hope to see one,
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I'd rather see than be one
by Gelett Burgess
How wrong could Gelett Burgess be. He obviously wasn't a marketer and if he was he would have been a terrible one. I use this poem as an example based on the great Seth Godin's perception of being a purple cow, It's much the same as the pink elephant it's about being noticed.
The bottom line is when it comes to marketing and advertising you want to be the Purple Cow not run away from it. This poemrepresents the millions of businesses out there who would just rather see the purple cows and gawp at them, the people who say 'Well my business is different, we could never market like that it just wouldn't work!'
At the end of the day the only way you will ever be seen as the market leader or different from your competitors is not by saying we have the best service and we have the best product but by shoving it in their face and mooing at them so they can't miss you.Traditional advertising and boring businesses just don't work on their own anymore. Being safe willresult in taking the biggest risk, it's those who think outside the box and take the initial risk whosee the results. No one elsewill agree with you and when they see your success they will envy you, if this is the reaction you get from your peers about your busniess or idea you have the PurpleCow.
