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Seth Godin
In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is failing. In a busy
marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.
Jon Spoelstra, in Marketing Outrageously, points out the
catch-22 of the Purple Cow. If times are tough, your peers
and your boss may very well say that you can’t afford to be
remarkable. After all, we have to conserve, to play it safe;
we don’t have the money to make a mistake. In good times,
however, those same people will tell you to relax, take it
easy; we can afford to be conservative, to play it safe.
The good news is that the prevailing wisdom makes your
job even easier. Since just about everyone else is petrified
of the Cow, you can be remarkable with even less effort. If
successful new products are the ones that stand out, and
most people desire not to stand out, you’re set!
So it seems that we face two choices: to be invisible,
anonymous, uncriticized, and safe, or to take a chance at
greatness, uniqueness, and the Cow.
According to the New York Times, a fourteen-block stretch
of Amsterdam Avenue in New York contains about seventy-four
restaurants. What’s most noticeable about these
restaurants is how boring they are. Sure, they offer cuisine
from twenty or thirty cultures, and the food is occasionally
quite good, but there are precious few remarkable places
here. The restaurants are just plain dull compared to the few
amazing restaurants in New York.
Why Simple. After spending all that money and all that
time opening a restaurant, the entrepreneur is in no
mood to take yet another risk. A restaurant that’s boring
won’t attract much criticism. If it’s just like the others, no
one will go out of their way to bad-mouth it. Ray’s Pizza is
just plain average. You won’t get sick, but you won’t grin
with pleasure, either. It’s just another New York pizza
place. As a result, the owner makes a living, rarely having
to worry about a bad review or offending anyone.
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