Reading rank 393
Purple Cow
, subject: Standing out by being different in marketing and product positioning., 2003
Purple Cow argues that being better and being different are separate questions, and that attention comes from difference.
19
Coverage Score
3
Scored evidence
About the book
Rather than trying to promote an ordinary offering more loudly, Godin argues that organizations should build remarkability into the product so customers have a reason to notice it and talk about it.
Why read it
Best if you are improving a product and want a sharper way to ask whether anything about it is different enough to be noticed.
Key themes
- Better and different are not the same
- Attention comes from difference
Evidence and original sources
Sources: official Founders episodes — #99, #170
This record is supported by 3 public evidence rows linked to original Founders episodes.
- Carroll Shelby (My name is Carroll Shelby and performance is my business) — While discussing Shelby's overalls as personal branding, the host recommends Seth Godin's short book on differentiation.
- Claude Hopkins (A Life in Advertising) — David identifies Seth Godin's purple-cow shorthand and applies its attention-through-difference lesson to Claude Hopkins's product experiments.