Seth Godin again ! . Who hasn’t liked the way he comes up with a beautiful insight in to everyday marketing aspects? A sequel to the book Purple cow - 99 cows has hit the market. Thus book mainly consists of examples that clarify some of the aspects mentioned in Purple cow.

Purple Cow, in the words of Seth godin is about going to the edges. Companies which have gone ahead with scary ideas and have become remarkable. Remarkable means anything that is worth recommending. Not that everyone would recommend it, but a special community who would recommend to others in their community.

The sum and substance of purple cow is creating products and services in such a way that marketing is an essential component in the product itself. It has the innate ability to make the customers recommend to others. This is not just another way to market the products, but seems to be increasingly the only way to go. Once the product itself is remarkable, the firm and its resources can then surround the offering and offer complementary services to offer a universal set of offerings around customer needs, thus ensuring a lock-in of the customers.

From today onwards, I am going to blog about one cow per day and try to reflect on what comes to my mind for each of these examples.

Cow # 1 :Listen (But Don’t Look)

The cow refers to David Lindley, a major artist who creates a unique experience in a way that his concert, becomes a purple cow. What has de done differently ? He listened to a specific group of people. He may not become the most popular artist , but he is targeting sneezers who spread his brand. Now how did he do it ?

“After playing with a series of traditional folk and bluegrass bands, including the Smog City Trestle Hangers, the Mad Mountain Ramblers, and the Dry City Scat Band, Lindley joined a rock band, the Rodents. When the group disbanded, he formed his own group, Kaleidoscope, that blended traditional music with rock influences.”

He realized that moving to the edges is the only way to make an impact and so his quest began to making his show unique. After years of effort , today he is an accomplished artist who is known for his eclectic adventure some concerts. For an artist, personal brand is all he has and building it is not a facile task. But he did build a brand.

In one’s life, building a personal brand is important for many reasons. One of the ways for doing so is to listen , comprehend and take action to the circumstances, ideas, trends around oneself. It is not enough to look at the trends, ideas, etc. Looking is more a passive process, whereas listening is an active process where there is an urge to reciprocate with an action.

Listen to the trends in the industry, economy, people’s communication paradigms, innovative marketing styles . Subsequently make an effort to move to the edges and be remarkable in whatever you do
– That is the essence of my understanding of Cow #1