Purple Cow

One of the problems with a scientific education is that it makes books like Purple Cow intensely annoying.

Purple Cow is a non-fiction book which argues that to succeed in the current market, companies need to turn out extraordinary products. These extraordinary products will be adopted by small groups of enthusiasts who will then convince their friends to try them. The popularity of the products will spread, leading to large profits. In other words, the products market themselves

Seth Godin, who wrote Purple Cow, may be entirely right in his conclusions. It would certainly be a very interesting approach to take with a product, and one that sounds like a lot of fun.

What I object to, though, is the lack of proof combined with an authoritative tone. He does not say: "I have observed these events and so I believe this is the new trend." He says: "This is the trend."

The scientific training kicks in and my thought process runs like this: If he has proof that he is correct he should share that proof to back up his arguments. If he is making some well-informed guesses, he should not state his guesses as fact.

My automatic response to a blanket statement with no proof given is annoyed skepticism, and I ended up reading the whole book in a state of total irritation.

What did amuse me more than a little, though, was the accolades on the back of the book. Of the seven comments, five of them were written by fellow authors. I could just imagine their agreement to set up a mutual admiration society in which they published positive comments about each other — after all, it would be good marketing.

I'm sure this post has given the impression that I despise Purple Cow. That's not the case at all. It's an easy two-day read and the approach Godin suggests is incredibly interesting and, perhaps, very effective. If it is one of a library of marketing books, it's worth reading (especially if you can borrow it from a friend).