Marketing
by Seth Godin
Why don't very good things sell?
Seth Godin argues that the old way of selling has stopped working. There are too many products and too little time, and people tune out almost every advert. In Purple Cow he says the only reliable way to get noticed is to make something worth noticing in the first place.
Hear a sample · read by Laura
Godin's word for what gets noticed is remarkable, meaning worth making a remark about. He wants it built into the product, the service or the way it's sold, early enough to shape what gets made. A clever advert can't add it to something ordinary afterwards.
For decades, companies bought television adverts, won shelf space, sold more and bought more adverts. Godin calls this the TV-industrial complex. It worked while there were few channels and people had attention to spare. Now there are more products than anyone could notice, and adverts get ignored.
Most companies play it safe and make something very good that nobody could object to. Godin argues that this has become the riskiest choice, because very good is invisible. Standing out brings critics, but blending in means being ignored, and that's how most products fail.
Most people don't want anything new, so adverts aimed at the middle of the market are wasted. Godin tells marketers to go after the early adopters, and above all the sneezers among them, who love passing ideas on. Win them over and they'll tell everyone else.
Remarkable
Remarkable means worth talking about. If nobody mentions your product, it may as well not exist.
Ads fading
Shouting at everyone with adverts works a little less every year.
Very good
A very good product still goes unnoticed, because people have seen plenty of very good.
Safe is risky
Playing it safe feels careful, but a forgettable product is the riskiest bet of all.
Sneezers
Aim at the few fans who love new things and tell everyone. They spread it for you.
A story from the book
Driving through France with his family, Godin was charmed by the cows grazing beside the road. Before long, nobody in the car was looking at them. The cows had become boring. A purple cow would have had everyone pressed to the window. That's what he wants a product to be.
Hot take · true or myth?
If some people dislike your product, that can be a good sign.
True. Godin argues that anything remarkable attracts critics. A product that nobody could possibly dislike is usually one that nobody talks about either.
One thing to try
Ask three customers what they've said about you to other people, word for word. Pick one thing you could make so different that someone would feel they had to mention it.
Knotd has the key ideas from 250+ non-fiction books, each in a few minutes, in plain words. Purple Cow comes with a Hot Take round to make it stick.
Get the whole book on KnotdOpen in the appWhy don't very good things sell? Seth Godin argues that the old way of selling has stopped working. There are too many products and too little time, and people tune out almost every advert. In Purple Cow he says the only reliable way to get noticed is to make something worth noticing in the first place.
Remarkable; The TV-industrial complex; Safe is risky; Find the sneezers.
Ask three customers what they've said about you to other people, word for word. Pick one thing you could make so different that someone would feel they had to mention it.
Yes. Knotd has the key ideas from Purple Cow in a few minutes, in plain words, plus a Hot Take round to test them. It's one of 250+ non-fiction books in the app.
