Customer Reviews

Purple Cow, New Edition: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable--Includes new bonus chapter

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I agree with the majority of the points made in the book but I didn't gain anything by reading it. I can quote books that I have read in high school school but I can't quote anything from this book. It was very generic information that isn't unique to the book. That is ironic because the PURPLE COW is centered around being uniques. This book is everything but unique or special. It drags on even though it is very short. I can summarize the entire book for you:

TV and mass media were new frontiers 50 years ago so fortunes could be made by putting a lot of money into advertising mediocre products. Today people have seen it all so they don't notice ads anymore. To be successful you need a PURPLE COW, meaning something shocking that causes people to tell their friends. Word of mouth is the BEST marketing because it is effective, economical and hard for competitors to duplicate. Most important it comes from a trusted source, your friend. THE END!

I have to admit, I like marketing books. In graduate school, my favorite classes had a marketing focus. So when I saw this book about marketing I felt a strong pull to read it. Maybe it's the fact that I live in Vermont where black and white cows are everywhere. Maybe it was the intriguing purple cow milk cartons that were around to initially promote the book. Maybe it was the purple cow on Seth Godin's website. Whatever it was, I was sold and got the book.

I would label this book as a "pop" marketing book. This book is to marketing like a mass-media self-help book is to psychology. If you are a business owner or solo entrepreneur don't look to this book to really help you build a market strategy. If you are looking for a nuts and bolts marketing book, this book is not it. David Bangs' "Market Planning Guide" is what you need.

This is a "fun" book: a book to put on your night stand and read a few pages before you go to sleep; a book to supplement what you already know; a book to reinforce your existing strategies. This would be a good book to read on a plane flight or on vacation while sitting around the pool drinking margaritas. It is cute enough to be entertaining while being wrapped in some thought-provoking concepts.

There is nothing "new" in this book. No comparative studies document the purple cow phenomenon. The examples seem only to illustrate the author's ability to come up with clever terms to apply to pre-existing concepts. For example the "sneezer" metaphor just presents as silly and distracting. I can't see anyone seriously discussing how to mobilize the "sneezers" in a business meeting with other executives.

But I could see a CEO asking people on the executive team read it before they go on the next company retreat. It might provide a good entrance to brain-storming before doing the next year's marketing plan.

Overall, this is a good read - a quick read - an easy read. I would recommend it to any individual responsible for marketing a concept or product -- or even trying to get the edge on their competition. The purple cow concept stuck with me weeks after reading the text -- probably because of a great introductory story. I like the purple cow.

This book was recommended to me by several marketing collegues as a must read. I became a fan of Seth's work after reading this book. He addresses being different, thinking different and marketing different are keys to standing out and being noticed. I already was a believer in this philosophy, but Seth's numerous examples, enjoyable writing style and wit made this book a wonderful read. I think this is a must have book for any marketing person or entrepreneur. Once you read it, you will get hooked as a fan of Seth's style, and message. This book encourages you to examine what you are doing or not doing to be a leader in your industry. It challenges you to think outside the box, and create extraordinary campaigns, messages and results. We don't live in a world that allows ordinary to last very long. If you want to prosper, you will need to become the purple cow!

It's a crime against the planet and everyone who understands anything about economics... Not to mention an insult to thinking Amazon customers worldwide. The pricing is clearly about greed and nothing to do with cost or preventing the destruction of the environment. Sorry, I'll pass :(

It starts at birth. Go to school, go to college, get married, buy a house, have kids. The education allows for a great career which we stick with for 30-40 years until we retire.

Business also has a model. This model is is being tested now that every business struggles to survive and pushes its cogs, I mean people to the limits. Business does not have to be this way. Purple Cow will take you into a different kind of business.

Chad
[...]

It is no longer good enough to be good, a product needs to be "remarkable". This book has interesting insight for anyone marketing a product. Easy to read in clear understandable to the point language.

I received this book as a gift from my boss. It's easy to read and goes very quickly. Definitely a book that is more about big ideas/concepts than specifics, although it does have specifics on how you can be exceptional. Several good examples from varying industries. You should be able to apply this information to your business regardless of its details. Every business can use things that are more exceptional.

Seth Godin has a way of pulling it all together. He is masterful and shows you how to look at things in a new and remarkable way. I have never seen so much powerful information packed in such a small book. I read it cover to cover in one short weekend and found it was impossible to put down, it pulls you in. This book is going to throw a series of short real-life scenarios at you that will open your eyes to see how simple most things are. He will show you which things from yesterday are obsolete and why. For a small book, there seems to be no end to it. Seth talks about looking at things in a remarkable way, little does he know is that "The Purple Cow" is a remarkable way to get his point across!

I have read about half of the book and i dont even want to read the other half its just not interesting at all. The writer talks about basic information nothing special.

This book has lots of really great ideas for SOME but not all marketers.

The reason I give this one star is because Godin makes big fat generalizations about marketing that are just not true or substantiated, particularly in reference to mass marketing. Mass marketing, TV marketing, and brand dominance through ad spend has not gone away and will NEVER go away.

These pop culture/business/sociology books have been really well received lately because it's fun to think "all the rules have changed" and give groups of people names (the "sneezers"???). Well, the rules haven't actually haven't changed at all. Communication, delivery systems, tactics and operations are the big changing factors. Business strategy, marketing strategy, those are the same. Unfortunately, they make for a pretty dull and analytical read, hence the trend to whoop it up. Thanks, but no thanks. This is a disservice to serious marketers.