Buy new:
$12.61$12.61
Delivery Wednesday, October 16
Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com
Save with Used - Good
$6.68$6.68
Delivery Wednesday, October 16
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: ZBK Wholesale
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Purple Cow, New Edition: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable Hardcover – Illustrated, November 12, 2009
Purchase options and add-ons
Few authors have had the kind of lasting impact and global reach that Seth Godin has had. In a series of now-classic books that have been translated into 36 languages and reached millions of readers around the world, he has taught generations of readers how to make remarkable products and spread powerful ideas.
In Purple Cow, first published in 2003 and revised and expanded in 2009, Godin launched a movement to make truly remarkable products that are worth marketing in the first place. Through stories about companies like Starbucks, JetBlue, Krispy Kreme, and Apple, coupled with his signature provocative style, he inspires readers to rethink what their marketing is really saying about their product. In a world that grows noisier by the day, Godin's challenge has never been more relevant to writers, marketers, advertisers, entrepreneurs, makers, product managers, and anyone else who has something to share with the world.
- Print length224 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPortfolio
- Publication dateNovember 12, 2009
- Dimensions5.2 x 0.8 x 7.3 inches
- ISBN-101591843170
- ISBN-13978-1591843177
Frequently bought together

Customers who bought this item also bought
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book useful and great. They say it offers insights, an honest education, and unique ideas that change their thinking. Readers say the book is worth the price and share-worthy. However, some find the pacing boring and underwhelming.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book useful, funny, and great. They say it's easy to read and doesn't read like a textbook. Readers also mention the message is worth the three hours it takes to read it.
"...Yet, its message is worth the three hours it will take to read it...." Read more
"The book is easy to read ." Read more
"...Its a good read and worth the price." Read more
"...Seth knows how to market his books and this one is no exception. It will do well. Is this book better than the many other books on marketing?..." Read more
Customers find the content enlightening. They say it offers a refreshing and honest education on how you can build your business. Readers appreciate the good message, concept, and principles on how to present yourself and your product. They also mention the book is a basic and foundational sales and marketing read for anyone in business today.
"...It will spark you to try harder, search deeper, and expand your reach much farther than you had originally anticipated...." Read more
"...The book is filled with insightful examples and practical advice on how to create products and services that are truly unique and memorable...." Read more
"...There are many ways to stand out, I like how this book has a few case studies and explains how these companies stood out and dominated a sometime..." Read more
"...The book is more of a guide and it is full of facts and information about how big brands became successful and either loss that success or increased..." Read more
Customers find the book full of unique ideas that will change the way they think. They say the concept is compelling and gets them thinking outside the box. Readers also mention the book is creative and full of stories that help inspire them.
"...practical advice on how to create products and services that are truly unique and memorable...." Read more
"...You must develop products and services so useful, interesting, outrageous, and noteworthy that your niche market will want to listen to what you..." Read more
"...The other says the book is shallow and void of original ideas. Both are right...and wrong.The main idea of the book is spot on...." Read more
"...This book is unique and I think it's a particular standout...." Read more
Customers find the book worth the price. They say it's a great buying experience and share-worthy.
"...Its a good read and worth the price." Read more
"...The information contained in this book provides lots of value and it can help any business do better...." Read more
"...The stories are poorly written and add no value. Buy the book - but buy the bargain ones without the bonus chapter." Read more
"...Once you apply it, totally worth it. A must read." Read more
Customers find the book easy to pick up and put down. They also appreciate the size and format.
"...5 stars, and a quick easy, concrete, authentic read. In fact, I read it twice." Read more
"...Easy to follow and easy to apply.Buy and put into practice." Read more
"...But lacking in practical suggestions and framework." Read more
"A potent reminder that what makes us different, is also our strength. An easy and thought-provoking read." Read more
Customers find the pacing of the book not very interesting, underwhelming, and a waste of time. They also say the content doesn't seem earth-shattering or actionable.
"...Just kind of average and underwhelming. But it does have some value as inspiration...." Read more
"...However, it did leave me wanting. There was really no actionable content. It basically tells you to be different, to be remarkable." Read more
"This book is ok. Not bad by any means, but the content didn't really seem earth shattering. Nonetheless, it's an easy read and i learned some things." Read more
"...It just means that the slogan is good for a different reason. It used to be the slogan was good because it fit the 30 second commercial sound bite...." Read more
Reviews with images
Damaged dust cover
-
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
First published in 2003, and again in 2005, and again in 2019, The Purple Cow resonates with aspiring and seasoned marketers alike for it’s timeless message; BE REMARKABLE. Seth Godin is a champion of the marketing industry, making a name for himself by selling his marketing firm to Yahoo for 30 million dollars and then becoming their vice president of direct marketing. At the same time he began writing marketing books, to which Purple Cow in only one of many. Yet, its message is worth the three hours it will take to read it. Whether new to marketing or refreshing your ideas, you’ll want to consider the bullet points Godin has to offer within these pages.
When Godin speaks, people listen. This book is primarily base on his personal opinion and therefor scrutinized, yet it holds major weight for those individuals about to jump into the melting pot of marketing that Godin so wittingly has mastered.
Out with the old, in with the new. Marketing has evolved, according to Godin, and innovation is the key to success. He believes it would be a waste of energy to focus on products and services that already exist for the masses. Developing new products or services for a market that is not saturated but small and specific is the new key to success. His message is throttling innovators forward with the idea they must put extreme amounts of effort into standing out from the crowd. He provides multiple case studies of companies that have done so, such as Starbucks, and Dutch Boy Paint. His examples shed light on a different way of thinking that is so inspiring! It will spark you to try harder, search deeper, and expand your reach much farther than you had originally anticipated.
If you are dealing with attempting to re-spin an old idea into a new one, he uses the example of Dutch Boy, the painting company who changed the idea of the paint can, making it so much more user friendly than the old one that the companies’ sales went up, their distribution broadened, and their retail price instantly increased.
Godin’s approach to advertising leaves some weary of his methods. He believes television ads are in the stone ages and Internet banners are a complete waste of time. He has the statistics and the experience to back it up. His ideas stray from the typical mass media approach and hone in on investing in an idea and then spreading that idea to particular individuals that will find it remarkable, interesting, and a must have. This foreign concept seems like the long game to me, finding people to like a product, try it and then tell their friends, takes time. Yet Godin offers streamlined examples of how this can be done. Influencers on Instagram suddenly made much more sense. The entire format of Instagram and how it caters to like-minded individuals who feed off of each other’s ideas and inspiration is an absolute gold mine for what Godin proposes. It makes perfect sense. I would also gather, that the folks disagreeing with the value of this book may not be fluent in the social media formats younger generations have now grown accustom.
Godin sheds light on subjects not otherwise considered unless you’ve already read some of his other books in which case his ideas are similar and reiterated. He’s a master of marketing, and this book contains keys you might not otherwise have considered. Learn as much as you possibly can to succeed, explore every option at your disposal, and the remarkable will be within reach! 5 stars, and a quick easy, concrete, authentic read. In fact, I read it twice.
The book is filled with insightful examples and practical advice on how to create products and services that are truly unique and memorable. Godin challenges readers to embrace their inner purple cow and strive for excellence in everything they do.
Overall, "The Purple Cow" is a must-read for entrepreneurs, marketers, and anyone looking to unleash their creative potential. Highly recommended!
Simply put, Seth reminds the reader to not be boring. To not be invisible and not even to be "very good" but rather to be remarkable. He says that people don't talk about or recommend "very good" products or services; that they expect very good. But people do talk about "remarkable" products or services. That's probably true and I tend to endorse that thought.
Furthermore, Seth claims that television marketing (among other types of advertising) is quite dead, thank you. He says that the old, established companies like P&G and General Mills made their names and sold their products with television advertising and that we still buy from old ads we saw thirty years ago. In other words, the Wheaties we bought because Billie Jean King was on the box still keeps us buying Wheaties today. (Whether BJK was on a box of Wheaties or not I don't know. But I can dream that a woman made the cover of the great cereal at least once in those days.)
Well, there's a dab of truth in that. But just a dab. Television still sells a ton of stuff. Granted, some of the ads are very bad. Some are cute and win awards but they don't win customers for the ad agency's clients. Television and radio and Internet advertising are not dead, however.
Now having said all that, I do agree with Seth when he says that to succeed today most businesses must be remarkable. But, unfortunately, that doesn't mean you can't have a bad product and still succeed.
Microsoft is known for its poor products and shoddy security but it's a rich, successful company while software companies with far finer products are struggling. Ah, but a Microsoft is admittedly the exception.
Seth knows how to market his books and this one is no exception. It will do well. Is this book better than the many other books on marketing? Is it unique or does it give new information? Not really.
One of the books on advertising that was a hot seller a number of years ago said that a product or service didn't have to be great to be a success. It just had to be "good enough". So who is right? Do you have to be remarkable or just good enough?
Well, you tell me. This book will make Seth some nice change. Maybe he'll go to France again on what he earns from it. Is it remarkable or just good enough? Well, it's good enough that it interested me sufficiently to buy it. It's good enough that I got a few ideas from it. But it's not remarkable enough that I'll give it five stars and suggest you run out and buy it.
Susanna K. Hutcheson
Executive Copy Director and Owner
Powerwriting.com LLC
Top reviews from other countries
Reviewed in France on June 30, 2024
How to rethink marketing.
To the point as always, Seth.








