SETH GODIN: PURPLE COWS & DEAD DOGS

Morning!

I’m at yet another wedding this weekend. This is 1 of 4 this year. You know you’re getting old when everyone around you is getting married.

Anyway, less marriage, more marketing.

Very few marketers alive today come up with genuinely original insights. Often times it’s regurgitated lessons from one of the greats from the 70s → 90s.

But there are a select few I still look to for insights. One of which is Seth Godin. 

• Former VP of Marketing at Yahoo

• Has 18 best-selling marketing books

• Member of the marketing hall of fame

It’s safe to say his resume speaks for itself.

I spent the last 4 hours going through all of his top books, lectures, and blogs.

Here are 5 marketing principles that Seth Godin lives by:

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BREAKING DOWN THE STRATEGY

4 years ago, I had just finished uni for the summer and felt like I’d learned virtually nothing new about marketing over the last 6 months.

6 hours/week in lectures. Yet all I’d learned was the 4 P’s - fantastic!

So I began looking for a marketing book that would give me some useful insights.

I wanted something actually insightful. Something I’d be able to action in real life. A concept that would change how I approach things.

I scrolled through Goodreads, NYT Best Sellers, Twitter recommendations… and ended up stumbling upon Purple Cow by Seth Godin.

In 1 long car ride, I finished the entire book.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t the greatest marketing book I’ve ever read, but what it did have was a unique concept - ‘The Purple Cow’.

Later down the line, that concept completely changed how we positioned our agency.

But recently, I’ve been wondering what other concepts Godin lives by, I loved his purple cow concept - but I wanted more.

So I went down the Seth Godin rabbit hole and studied as much as I could of his work.

Here are the 5 key marketing principles I found - that all marketers need to know:

Principle 1: Be The Purple Cow

Godin says that we live in an age with too many options and not enough time.

Everyone is getting sold products every second of the day.

How does the brain handle millions of brands trying to steal its attention? It ignores all of them.

Godin compares this to driving through the countryside, on the left there are cows, on the right there are cows - yet you keep driving.

Because you’ve seen cows before, your brain barely even registers that they are there. They might as well be invisible.

Now imagine that there was a purple cow.

You’d instantly notice it. You’d tell everyone to look. You might even pull over the car. Take a photo and share it on your socials. You’d go home and tell your friends and family.

Now imagine that “Purple Cow" was a stand-out product in the marketplace.

The same thing would happen.

Godin says,

This remarkable “Purple Cow” product flows through everything that Godin teaches.

It’s arguably the core reason he’s found so much success - so probably best to ask yourself, “Is my product remarkable?”

More on this later!

Principle 2: Avoid The Center

Marketers love to target the masses, they think more people = more sales.

Godin believes that 50 years ago this made sense - because these people weren’t getting bombarded with advertising.

Today though, Godin says you have to do the exact opposite.

On this curve, the mass market is, of course, in the early and late majority. They make up 68% of the market.

So that’s where most ad dollars are spent.

But who brands should be targeting is the first 16%, because they’re the people who:

A) Care the most
B) Will listen to you
C) Will talk about your company

Godin gives the example of how Steve Jobs marketed Apple.

He says,

I love this Steve Jobs example.

Just goes to show you need to target the geeks of your industry because they’ll market your product better than any campaign will.

Principle 3: Lean On Soft Innovation

At this point, you should have a general gist of Godin’s macro approach to marketing.

Create something remarkable → Market to the obsessed → Let them spread the word.

But what happens if your product… isn’t that remarkable?

Godin’s answer: Change it.

In one of his TED talks, he used the example of ‘Dutch Boy’ paint to explain it.

I couldn’t even name you 2 paint brands - and I don’t think I’m alone in that.

But that’s because most paint is a commodity - it’s paint, in a can.

It’s not exciting and it’s definitely not remarkable.

So Dutch Boy decided to do some soft innovation and created an easy-pour version of their cans.

1/ It was new
2/ It was different
3/ People talked about it

They didn’t have to change what the product was, they just innovated enough to make it remarkable.

Principle 4: Don’t Market A Dead Dog

You know what you wouldn’t do if you had a dead dog?

Wrap it in a new marketing strategy.

So why do so many companies think an innovative new marketing strategy will completely revolutionise their product?

That’s the exact question Godin asks.

Godin says,

This ties perfectly in with Principle 3 too.

Change something → Then market it.

Don’t market it and hope something will change.

Principle 5: Focus On Prospects That Give Permission

I was listening to a recent podcast Godin recorded when he brought up a topic I haven’t heard many people talk about - ‘Permission based marketing”.

Godin explained that we live in a world where brands are always trying to expand their customer base.

• Reach new people

• Attract new prospects

• Get involved in new markets

When Godin says the real people you should be focusing on are those who gave you permission to market to them.

• The people who signed up for emails.

• The people who read your blog.

• Those on your SMS list.

It teeters on the line of generic advice, but Godin sums it up really nicely. He said,

This was my reminder (and now yours) to send more emails!

 🌱 THE GREENHOUSE

Things I’ve saved this week that are worth seeing:

• Purple Cow book on Amazon. (See here)

• Seth Godin's lecture on spreading ideas. (See here)

• The Hustles’ original welcome email. (See here)

TL;DR

Principle 1/ Be The Purple Cow
Principle 2/ Avoid The Center
Principle 3/ Lean On Soft Innovation
Principle 4/ Don’t Market A Dead Dog
Principle 5/ Focus On Prospects That Give Permission

A little bit of a shorter breakdown than usual but I wanted to avoid putting any of the generic cliches in.

I like the way Godin thinks about marketing and hopefully, this gave you a little insight into how he thinks.

If you did enjoy it, would you be against forwarding this to a friend? Appreciate ya :)

Until next Sunday.

— Niall

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THAT’S ALL!

This has been a breakdown of Seth Godin’s marketing approach. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy in your business!

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