Purple cow refers to a product or service that is different from the rest and therefore worth noticing. Using the method of Remarkable Marketing will provide you with that extra and indefinable characteristic that encourages potential customers to notice you. People who might buy your product first have to hear about it, then they have to want it, and they have to have the money to buy it. In general, people are too busy or just uninterested in hearing about new products. Combining these with people’s low tolerance for new and potentially unwanted information creates a challenging obstacle to marketing your product or service.

Television, magazines and newspapers no longer provide the guaranteed attention and subsequent sales that they previously did. The new rule in marketing is to create remarkable products that the right people seek out. Specific marketing tactics include:

· Ideas that spread, win. Like viruses, ideas must spread in order to survive. To create an idea that spreads, target a niche rather than “everybody”. People in the niche will become “infected” with your ideavirus and “sneeze” it at others, potentially even bursting into the mainstream market.

· Advertise at the right time. Make sure your advertising is targeted to “sneezers” who also have influence with other people. Their enthusiasm will be your key marketing tool to spread news of your product or service.

· Show no fear. Most people resist creating Purple Cows because they are afraid. This fear shows up in many excuses about the product, the market, or the industry. Fundamentally, people are afraid to try. However, since everyone is afraid, there is less competition and it is much easier to create a relatively remarkable product. “It is just common sense that if successful new products are the ones that stand out, and most people don’t want to stand out, you’ve got a great opportunity.”

The magic cycle of the cow.
Once you’ve created a purple cow, follow the magic cycle to manage your profits:

1. Get permission from people you have already impressed to alert them about a new purple cow.
2. Work with sneezers so that your idea reaches a wider audience.
3. Once you’ve moved from remarkable product to profitable business, let a different team take over.
4. Reinvest and launch a new purple cow to the same audience.

Using the Purple Cow technique means that marketing is no longer the end player in the process of product creation. In a world where just about anything we need is available and satisfying, only purple cows will stand out.

Tips for creating purple cows:

· Think small. Overwhelm a small market with your remarkable product.
· Outsource. If your own organization won’t entertain a purple cow, get someone else to do it.
· Build and use permission assets. Talk to your loyal customers. They will tell you whether your cow is purple or not.
· Copy from everywhere, not just your own industry. Look for remarkable innovations anywhere and fit them to your situation.
· Identify a competitor who’s at the edges and outdo them. Whatever they are known for, do it better.
· Ask, “why not?”. Overcome your fear of trying something new or more purple than you’re used to.

Adopting Purple Cow marketing will ensure your product stands out from the huge variety and selection available in the market today. According to Godin, “you don’t have to like it; you don’t have to be a new-product guru; you just have to realize that nothing else is working”.