Purple Cow Read Online Free PDF Page B

equation. In the old days, marketers targeted consumers. Smart ad folks worked hard to make sure their ad was appropriate for the target market and that the ad ran in media that would reach that market. Implicit in the idea of targeting, though, is the conceit that it was up to the marketers to decide who would pay attention and when.
    Today, of course, the opposite is true. It’s the consumers who choose. They choose whether you are listened to or ignored. How do they decide? Are some consumers more likely than others to listen? What separates the listeners from the others?
    The big secret of Google ads is that they are both contextually relevant and presented to the type of person who’s likely to act on them. You see a Google “ad” just moments after you’ve typed in a search term for that very item! Compare this to a loud, unwelcome interruption of a less-focused consumer, and the difference is clear.
    At any given moment, in any given market, some people are all ears. They want to hear from you. They look through the Yellow Pages, subscribe to trade magazines, and visit Web sites looking for more information. Some of these people will eventually buy; some are just looking.
    So here comes the big idea:
    IT IS USELESS TO ADVERTISE TO ANYONE
(EXCEPT INTERESTED SNEEZERS WITH INFLUENCE).
     
    You need to do this advertising when these consumers are actually looking for help, and in a place where they’ll find you. Of course, advertising to one interested person is a good idea, but the real win occurs when the person who’s listening is a sneezer likely to tell her friends and colleagues.
    Obviously, the chances you have to advertise to this select audience are rare. The rest of the time, you need to be investing in the Purple Cow. Products, services and techniques so useful, interesting, outrageous, and noteworthy that the market will want to listen to what you have to say. No, in fact, you must develop products, services, and techniques that the market will actually seek out.

Cheating
     
    • JetBlue Airways is cheating. Their low-cost structure, underused airports, and young, nonunion staff give them an unfair advantage.
    • Starbucksis cheating. The coffee bar phenomenon was invented by them, and now whenever we think coffee, we think Starbucks.
    • Vanguard is cheating. Their low-cost index funds make it impossible for a full-service broker to compete.
    • Amazon.com is cheating. Their free shipping and huge selection give them an unfair advantage over the neighborhood store.
    • Google is cheating. They learned from the mistakes of the first-generation portals and they don’t carry the baggage of their peers.
    • Wendy’s is cheating. Their flexibility allows them to introduce half a dozen salad-based entrées, capturing a big chunk of the adult market.
    • Ducati is cheating. Because they don’t have to make motorcycles for the entire market, they can specialize in high-profit, amazing bikes, which sell out every year.
    • HBO is cheating. Because they have to program original shows only one night a week, HBO can focus and invest and cream the networks.
     
    None of these companies are using the old-fashioned advertising-based techniques to win. To their entrenched (but nervous) competitors, these companies appear to be cheating because they’re not playing by the rules.
    Why aren’t you cheating?

Who Cares?
     
    You can’t make people listen. But you can figure out who’s likely to be listening when you talk, and then invent the right combination of Ps to overwhelm them with the rightness of your offer.
    Even if someone is listening, your offering of “a little bit cheaper,” “a little bit better,” or “a little bit easier” is just a waste of time. The influential sneezers, the people with a problem to solve—they’re open to hearing your story only if it’s truly remarkable; otherwise, you’re invisible.
    The “Who’s listening?” question drives not just the success of