Do You Have a Purple Cow?

This week I finally sat down and read Purple Cow by Seth Godin. For any of you who haven't heard of him, Seth Godin is a writer and very entertaining speaker on marketing and business topics. In Purple Cow, he argues that since people get bombarded by so much advertising and promotion everyday, they've basically stopped listening. And since they've stopped listening, the only way to get through to them is to make sure your product or service is so remarkable that people feel compelled to talk about it to their friends. That's the Purple Cow (and I have to admit, a purple cow would certainly be something I'd discuss with my friends).

He also notes that it's not enough to get people talking about it, you have to get the RIGHT people talking about it. The right people are those people in every group who are the influencers, the resident experts, the gurus. Get those people talking about your product or service and you'll have success. If you don't, you'll wither and die.

Very cool stuff, and especially useful when it comes to attracting quality drivers. After all, recruiting is about spreading the word that your company is 'the' place to work, making everyone want to be there, and creating a situation where you get to have your pick of the best in the industry.

How do you do that? How do you spread the word that your fleet is the best one to work for? If Seth is right and people have stopped paying attention to print ads and banners, then something else is needed.

A Purple Cow - create a workplace and job opportunities so remarkable that people are compelled to talk about them. 

Simple, eh? ;-)

Of course, you can't do it just by tweaking a pay package and advertising a family atmosphere at the terminal. You have to do something that's truly different. You have to take some chances - do some things that no one else is doing.

If you can do that, you'll get people talking. And you'll get the right people talking as well.

A good example of Purple Cow thinking is Coastal Pacific Express, aka CPX. CPX is based in BC. I live in the Toronto area. I don't think I've ever seen a single CPX truck, yet everywhere I turn someone is talking about this company. Profit sharing for drivers. Innovative training programs. Comprehensive benefit and career path packages. If I'm not seeing it in the magazines, I'm hearing someone discussing it. They've created an environment so radically different, so remarkable, that people keep talking about them. 

CPX does all this stuff and still makes money. That's the payoff. But when they started down this path they couldn't have known that it would pay off. They took a chance and it worked.

Are you creating a Purple Cow in your company? What are you doing to get people talking?