February Book Review – Purple Cow by Seth Godin

For the month of February our team was excited to read Seth Godin’s Purple Cow. An old favourite, published in 2003, we were looking forward to seeing how applicable the information was in today’s age - we weren't disappointed. The concepts in the book are still sound, primarily focusing on Be Remarkable; ie. Don’t copy what’s already been done, don’t mass market a boring product, find a new angle in your industry and push it as far as you can.

Some examples were Jet Blue, who toyed around with the idea of creating a dress code for their airline, catering to higher-end clientèle.  They even considered offering a free ticket to their best dressed passengers. Controversial? You bet! But boy would people be talking about it.

A more modern day example we discussed was Men in Kilts Window Cleaning; definitely a concept worth talking about. The point being, how can you shake up your industry? If something as hum drum as window cleaning was able to create a new, crazy, buzz-worthy concept there’s absolutely something you can do in your industry.

So what is your Purple Cow? What is going to make innovators share your story?

Four parting rules from Mr. Godin:

1. Don’t be boring
2. Safe is risky
3. Design rules now
4. Very good is bad

On a scale of 1-10 where 1 equals a book with little value one would not wish to read again, and 10 equals a fantastic book with the ability to grow an individual personally, professionally or both,  we rated this book a 8.1.

Have you read it? Let us know what you thought.