I skidded to stop when I saw the purple cow. Wow! It really stood out.
So I backtracked bit and pulled into the farm’s lot. I discovered the purple cow was pricier than regular cows, but, well, it was just so incredible I had to buy it.
I got the cow butchered with no issues. But then things started to go badly. Turns out the meat is not purple. Apparently, it was just the hide that was colored. I went back to the farm and told the farmer I felt ripped off. Why, I asked, was the cow so expensive when the meat was the same as other cows?
He explained that coloring a cow is actually difficult and expensive. He had no choice but to charge more. So I headed home. I was unhappy about he cost, but didn’t really didn’t feel I could ask for money back as that would just hurt the farmer. He was just trying to sell a cow, after all.
So I headed home to have a nice steak dinner. That, I figured, would be pretty nice and make the whole experience seem better.
But the meat tasted different. That, I later discovered, was from the chemicals used to make the cow such a vibrant purple. The chemicals, it turns out, contaminate the meat. And they’re carcinogenic.
It’s been a few months since I bought the purple cow. I got back from the doctor today and the prognosis is not good. I probably won’t live to see the conclusion of my lawsuit against the farmer. It’s going slow because the farmer is also suing his marketing firm. And the marketing firm is suing the chemical manufacturer.
I wish I’d never seen that purple cow.
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I know the story above is heavy-handed, but marketers really need to get past Seth Godin’s stupid Purple Cow idea.
Sure, screaming gets attention. But it’s a bad strategy for actually communicating anything. And everyone screaming gets us nowhere.
But the worst part of Godin’s idea is that making a purple does not improve the cow. The cow is a cow, and it’s just fine being not purple. Making a purple cow is, however, costly. And that cost has to be added somewhere… So, added cost. No added benefit.
Building great products and taking them into the marketplace to go toe-to-toe on the virtues of the product should be the goal. That’s how honest and clear-thinking marketers should operate. If painting it purple will make it a better product, fine. If it will just add cost and only temporarily differentiate the product (on a superficial and ultimately unimportant factor), then don’t.
The challenge shouldn’t be to get noticed, regardless what you have to say or sell. The challenge should be how to best communicate the passion, skill, and quality you’ve poured into your product.