- 5 Minute Founders
- Posts
- "Purple Cow" by Seth Godin.
In partnership with
2025 Prediction: A Surge of Self-Serve CTV Buyers
Roku predicts that 2025 will be a breakthrough year for self-serve CTV advertising. Roku Ads Manager makes it easy to integrate CTV into your 2025 marketing mix. Easily segment your target audience, optimize campaigns in real-time, and drive conversions with interactive ad formats and shoppable ads with a Shopify integration. Roku Ads Manager makes CTV advertising accessible and impactful for businesses of any size.
Dear Ambitious Founders,
Over the past week, I’ve been diving into Seth Godin's "Purple Cow" - a manifesto for creating products and services that are truly remarkable.
In the next 5 minutes, you'll discover why being 'good' is no longer good enough and how to make your offering stand out in an overcrowded market.
Who's Seth Godin?
Marketing pioneer and bestselling author
Founder of Yoyodyne and Squidoo
One of the world's most popular marketing bloggers
Champion of permission marketing and innovative thinking
Key Insights: Creating Something Worth Noticing
The Death of the TV-Industrial Complex
Core Concept: Traditional marketing is dead. The old approach of creating average products for average people and promoting them through mass marketing doesn't work anymore.
5-Minute Action: List three ways your current marketing relies on interruption or traditional advertising. How could you shift to something more remarkable?
The Purple Cow Phenomenon
Key Insight: Imagine driving past a field of cows. After a while, they become invisible. But a PURPLE cow? That would be remarkable - worth making a remark about.
5-Minute Action: What's the 'purple cow' element in your product? If there isn't one, brainstorm three ways to add something truly remarkable.
The New P in Marketing
Strategic Shift: Add 'Purple Cow' to the traditional 4 P's of marketing (Product, Price, Place, Promotion).
5-Minute Action: Evaluate your offering. Is the remarkability built into the product itself, or are you trying to add it through marketing?
Safe is Risky
Counterintuitive Truth: Playing it safe is actually the riskiest strategy in today's market. Being boring is the fastest path to invisibility.
5-Minute Action: Identify one "safe" aspect of your business. How could you make it remarkable instead?
Target the Innovators
Marketing Focus: Focus on the people who are actively looking for something remarkable and are likely to spread the word.
5-Minute Action: Describe your ideal early adopter. What would make them not just satisfied, but amazed?
The Bottom Line
Success in today's market requires building remarkability into your product from the start. Marketing should amplify what's already remarkable, not try to make the unremarkable interesting.
Your 5-Minute Challenge: What's the most remarkable aspect of your business? If you can't think of one, what could you change to make it remarkable? Share your purple cow - the most innovative idea could be featured in our next issue!
Should I Buy This Book?
"Purple Cow" is a must-read if:
You're struggling to stand out in a crowded market
You need to rethink your product strategy
You're looking for inspiration to innovate
You want to create word-of-mouth marketing
Consider skipping if:
You're looking for traditional marketing tactics
You need detailed, step-by-step strategies
You prefer data-heavy business books
You're already successfully creating remarkable products
My take: "Purple Cow" is a quick, inspiring read that could fundamentally change how you think about product development and marketing. While light on technical details, its core message about the importance of being remarkable is more relevant today than ever.
Expert's Corner: Understanding Remarkability
The concept of 'remarkable' deserves deeper exploration. Godin isn't just talking about being different - he's talking about being worth making a remark about. Consider these examples:
Airbnb didn't just create another hotel booking site; they made it remarkable by turning every home into a potential hotel
Dollar Shave Club didn't just sell razors; they made razor shopping remarkably convenient and entertaining
Tesla didn't just make electric cars; they made them remarkably desirable status symbols
The key is that remarkability must be baked into the core offering, not added as an afterthought. It's not about having a remarkable advertising campaign - it's about having a product that markets itself through its remarkability.
Remember, this is just a taste of the paradigm-shifting ideas in "Purple Cow." For the full experience, grab your copy here.
Coming Up Next Week: I’ll be exploring "Hooked" by Nir Eyal. Get ready to learn how to build habit-forming products!
Stay remarkable,
Daniel
Founder, 5-Minute Founders
Note: What's the most remarkable product or service you've encountered recently? Reply to this email and tell me what made it purple cow-worthy!
Reply