STANDING OUT
Seth Godin says "Be Remarkable" - in an time when our choices are many and our time is limited, it's no longer enough to 'be good'.
Seth Godin is an entrepreneur and blogger who thinks about the marketing of ideas in the digital age.
Running time:17:05
Points to ponder:
- How do ideas spread? What's the best idea you've heard of that's gone nowhere?
- Godin says 'success isn't always about what the patent, or the factory, is like' but it has more to do with getting the idea out. Is it really all just up to the people in marketing?
- Is the reverse true? Can you think of poor products or ideas that had great marketing campaigns?
- How do you spread your good ideas to your students? To your colleagues? Do you have some of your own 'purple cow' thoughts?
- What is most remarkable to you about this message?
I did enjoy this week’s session! I do think with as much and as fast as information is at our fingertips, those ideas that do stick with us are those that are remarkable or stand out in some way. I think students in general especially love to find and spread remarkable “ideas that win.”
ReplyDeleteSometimes however “remarkable” can also mean shocking or negative, for example as in the marketing of celebrities who become known by any kind of publicity.
I found it interesting when he said that being “safe is risky.” While safe sounds good, it also means we aren’t moving forward. Very good point! I’m not sure if I agree that “very good is boring or average” as not all marketing appeals to the ends of spectrum.
Should we use purple cows for marketing? Sure a 55 foot tall lava lamp might attract people to the town of Soap Lake, but would they be the people that Soap Lake really wanted to attract? I recall a Coe admissions campaign that attracted a lot of interest from potential students because it presented a message that stood out from the crowd. But in the end it didn't attract the right students, because it wasn't really the message that we wanted to send. If you are trying to attract the attention of those in the middle of the normal curve, I am not sure that marketing to those in the tail by being remarkable is necessarily the best way to go. "Very good" still has a lot of appeal to me and I hope to others as well.
ReplyDeleteWas the Coe marketing campaign you are referring to the "if you can't go to college got to Coe" campaign? That's still haunting us! I hear it from the Cornell folks on RAGBRAI every year.
DeleteNo - "If you can't go to college go to Coe" is pretty old. Must be from the late 50's or perhaps early 60's. We chanted that back when I was at Cornell in the late 60's.
DeleteI don't remember the theme or the slogan, but there was a campaign from the 90's that emphasized how cool a place Coe was to attend, but didn't refer at all to academics, etc. And we ended up attracting students, but those with the strongest academic profiles, who were looking for a quality education, were not particularly attracted by that campaign.
In a discussion on how to advertise the library the examples that had the best results didn't give out book marks. They gave out librarian trading cards, or a comic book depicting a tour of the library during a Zombie Invasion. In short they used novel advertising ideas. So, I agree with Godin, one has to be remarkable to spread ideas, or in this case bring attention to an old one. The problem is the idea can’t just be novel. It has to have more than a minute of fame. It has to have staying power, or be regularly revamped.
ReplyDeleteVery Good being boring or average (i.e. undesirable) depends on the situation. I'd rather have a very good air conditioner than a hot pink remarkable one. On the other hand I passed up buying a very good portable speaker for a lower quality one which I could custom design.
I agree that we seem to be in a purple cow age. You can see this in the youth who, because of early exposure to lots of images and experiences, need more to really wow them. With saturation comes boredom so that by necessity we are more attracted to the novel. So, I see how the argument makes sense.
ReplyDeleteHowever, a flashy idea needs some substance behind it or it is likely to have a flash appeal. Obsessive people tend to move from one obsession to another. While they are meant to be the ones who generate the initial interest, if the idea or product does not have much value beyond being different, it is not likely to stick with a broader audience and it will certainly not hold the long-term interest of the obsessive types.
Getting noticed is the first step but there had better be something to keep interest long-term unless you want to continually be changing up the product or idea.
I am sticking with the very good as the final test once it gets my attention.
I agree, Susan. I'm tired to trying to "wow" bored people! And I also think it's interesting that Godin points to Krispy Kreme as a great example of this kind of marketing . . . I believe they've gone out of business big time. People get tired of purple cows!
DeleteOn the other hand, thinking of "otari" is cool. I'm part of a few odd groups who have otari about things, for example, Ravelry, a social network for people who knit and crochet. We have 2 million members, and we all have something in common. If you want to market yarn or cool patterns, market to us. I bet a lot of people would be willing to go for some cool yarn--as long as it's good.
But there's that "as long as it's good" aspect. Once something gets my attention, I want to make sure it's good before I invest a lot of time and energy (and money) in it. Krispy Kremes were not all that great. Not worth eating more than once.
Very good talk. (ha ha ha)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that Godin's ideas apply to higher ed, at least when it comes to the perspective of an individual teacher. I'm sure that Godin of course would have a Malcolm-Gladwell-esque way of explaining how they indeed apply to higher ed even more than his other examples.
As an instructor, I don't feel that I have the luxury of marketing (i.e. teaching or pitching a class) strictly to innovators and early adopters, or to the otaku, and forgetting the rest. The otaku types in my classes are among my favorite students, and I'm not sure if I could teach if they were not present. However, I think by pitching a class specifically to this very small minority and leaving out the rest, the class would fail, and the strategy would perhaps be bad teaching.
I'm also not sure if in intellectual matters (at least when it comes to Coe students) people follow or listen to the otaku. I'd like to hear anyone's comments here....
On an academic campus the otaku would probably be those students who know exactly what they want to do in life, or discover it in their freshman year. These students are dedicated and excited about their goal.
DeleteIn my understanding, ‘everyone else’ encompasses students that came to college because they don't want to flip burgers for the rest of their life, but have only vague ideas of what they want to do instead. Because of this I think your right Chris, students aren't likely to listen to or follow the otaku who have a focused plan while 'everyone else' is exploring and probably trying some things they discover really are not for them in the hopes of finding something that is.
But hay, maybe a giant lava lamp is just the thing to hook 'everyone else' into their own otaku. :P
I don't think Godin was saying that you always have to be "flashy"- ie, the lava lamp, but rather being remarkable is being memorable, meaningful, different. Thinking back on your classroom experiences, I very much remember instructors who were remarkable. There was something more engaging about their classes than every other class. They did something different.
ReplyDeleteTo this day, even in the digital age that we are in, the best marketing campaign is word of mouth. And you can't really create that marketing campaign. However, if you are selling something remarkable, people will talk about it. That is key. As Godin indicated, selling to those on the front of the curve is the best strategy, because they are the ones who will listen to you selling and decide if it is remarkable. Then they will start the talking, and pretty soon everyone is talking, and they only advertised to that small percent. I think Facebook is the best example of this concept and "being remarkable." You heard about it- you didn't see it advertised. They told the right people about it when it was initially started (if you saw the movie you know who!) and pretty soon it exploded. You still don't see it advertised today. But it has certainly proved to be remarkable.
My most memorable teachers didn't do anything different except to be excited about the subject they were teaching. Is excitment remarkable?
DeleteI'm not sure he's talking to us.
ReplyDeleteI think equally problematic can be ideas that are before their times, so to speak. I remember when I was younger , there was a cheese popcorn that I loved that came with a flavor packet. It slowly became harder and harder to find, until it was discontinued. A similar product was introduced five years later and then disappeared. Then it happened again, same result. Just recently, I've seen the same product introduced, with slightly different packaging! So the company keeps trying the same product, hoping that this will be the time it catches on. But I've yet to see any serious changes in marketing the product, so I wonder what aspect of the market they think has changed that will make their product a success this time. Maybe it simply takes the right idea at the right time, with the right adopters.
ReplyDeleteAnother thought provoking video. I couldn't help but think of some friends opening a new mexican place in few weeks & how they could make it a remarkable experience to dine there. I do feel this has applications in education. Students seem to want to be entertained, not just told information. Educators that I have had in the past that have made a difference for me are those that do stand out in some way, are not safe, and may be thought of as a bit different. Gives me some points to ponder as think about course info for next year
ReplyDeleteI was given a copy of Godin's Purple Cow when it first came out years ago. It was encased in a milk carton with the markings of a purple and white cow. That was remarkable. I still have that book and use its basic ideas today. As an advisor and supervisor of students I frequently talk about being remarkable or compelling. When students are struggling to figure out what to do next, I push them to be remarkable. I frequently conversations with students and get them to see that the remarkable thing about Flunk Day is that it's an unknown day off of class and it's usually beautiful outside. That's what most students are/should be excited about.
ReplyDeleteOne product that I loved that didn't end up being remarkable enough was Roasted Red Pepper flavored Tostitos chips. They were introduced at the same time the Hint of Lime chips and I thought they had a superior flavor. However, after a few months they weren't available any longer and the Lime version has lived on. Nowadays there are a bunch of different flavored chips.
Getting an idea out doesn't necessarily mean it's the people in marketing who do it. It's a combination of a remarkable product and identifying that Otaku. For example, the Sutliff Cider Company in Lisbon, IA has a remarkable hard cider that stacks up against any hard cider in this country (yes, I'm biased but competitions and reviews back me up). Even though they have been distributing since 2001, their business and profits have increased over the past four years because they renovated a 120 year old barn on a country road and get people to drive to it on weekends. The combination of a remarkable product and location has allowed them to find their Otaku. The growing craft beer and cider movement is helping too.
Is the reverse true? Can you think of poor products or ideas that had great marketing campaigns? The Snuggie. Enough said.
I am filled with Purple Cow thoughts on an hourly basis but then have to adapt them to fit within our context here at Coe. Does that make them light-Purple Cows? Without true autonomy remarkable ideas can be difficult to execute. I live with a constant desire to improve with the ultimate goal of creating all kinds of Purple Cows and I use that idea of constant improvement to help bring students and colleagues along for my Purple Cow journeys.
What's most remarkable about this message is that anyone can do it. It doesn't have to be left up to the marketers and Purple Cows can be found in any context.
How do ideas spread? What's the best idea you've heard of that's gone nowhere?
ReplyDeleteBest idea that I heard that went nowhere: On-site childcare facility on Coe's campus. When Coe was buying out the land north (?) of campus, it seemed like the perfect time to think about creating an on-site childcare center for faculty members with kids. It would allow them to be on campus with the security of reliable, nearby childcare. Professors from other colleges who had on-site centers even said that they were a recruiting asset for new faculty! The possibilities: staffed by EDU students and others interested in working with kids/young people; kids' garden developed with Environmental Studies dept; PE students in charge of outside activities; BUS dept work on advertising and business plan; nursing students promoting healthy preventative programs with students and parents...so many great ideas and potential. Alas, plop. Dead in the water.
I can't help but think a little more talk on campus might have stirred up more positive responses about the center. However, I often neglect the incredibly important role money (or profit) plays in decisions. It doesn't count if it doesn't pay off. I guess.
Re good marketing campaigns for bad products/ideas: I often remember popular songs from commercials (e.g., Somebody left the gate open...http://youtu.be/l0ot-LlyyCY) but then struggle to remember what the product is being advertised. [I saw an interview with the woman who wrote that song from the CITI commercial (See? I did remember!) and she was really interesting. She didn't look like I expected her to look. http://youtu.be/E_DN0MeOspw]
As someone who teaches future teachers, I appreciate all of the comments about having a true passion or interest in one's own content as a necessity for "selling" one's teaching. Hear, hear.
If you are passionate about the object or subject matter, you are much more likely to influence others to become passionate. An item may be remarkable when it first is presented; this means that one has to constantly reinvent or "switch things up" to continue to be seen in that light since there are so many imitators. That is extremely difficult when you teach the same thing over and over and over and yet want your enthusiasm for the subject matter to be caught by your students.
ReplyDeleteI am stuck on one of the last ideas presented--"figure out what people want." I see value for educators in this approach. How do our students want to receive information? Most likely, the desired means for input is different from how we would choose to learn, but isn't that what teaching is about--being responsive to our students? I think responsive teaching is remarkable and will remain remarkable because it will always be fresh and new.
ReplyDeleteThe content? Depending on the discipline, the content will remain untouched--but the delivery will be different. The purpose--the why of marketing is still the same--get the idea/product out there, but the how is different. I believe the same model works for learning and teaching.
I think the hard part about this is that my purple cow is not your purple cow. In other words, what I think is remarkable may not even register with you. On the alumni side of things, we have to figure out the purple cow that will attract the most people. However, there still has to be something for the others. It is a constant battle of keeping the most people engaged with a limited staff and budget.
ReplyDeleteI think this video was right on. Apart from all of my marketing classes in undergrad, I've seen this principle acted out. Especially with Dance Marathons. ISU Dance Marathon has run an excellent social media campaign - with great videos that get people talking. Even if I didn't know anything about Dance Marathon, I'd want to share those videos with my friends. I also agree with Tom - you can make anything a purple cow, especially if you feel passionately about it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jon White: I'm not convinced that Godin is speaking to us. We're not simply selling a product. To some extent, we do need to "sell" students on the importance of what we're doing, but treating students as "customers" or "clients" can lead us in the wrong direction.
ReplyDeleteGodin describes what I have called the "entrepreneurial monoculture" I fear is the future people are pointing us to. Being a tenured college professor allows me to claim as much exemption as I wish from it, so I can be countercultural if I want to be: there is nothing in here about what is good, only what is. Perhaps they are equating what is with what is good. What is? We live in a noisy society, and the way to survive is somehow to cut through the background noise and become foreground noise. Get people to want what you have, whether it's going to improve their lives or make them worse. After you're cremated you can have yourself made into a gem? What in God's name are we turning into?
ReplyDeleteThe cliche in constitutional law is that good speech drives out bad. I doubt increasingly whether this is true.
Maybe the best thing we can do as college teachers is to promote the idea of critical thinking, of standing apart from the culture, of questioning the nothingburger values this guy is proclaiming. But if this is the way the world works, what good does it do to prepare them for a world that doesn't exist? Can they survive in the one that does?
I think one of the most remarkable marketing gimmicks I have ever seen is getting people to wear advertising not for free but actually paying premium prices for a shirt that the only remarkable features are it is three time the price of another shirt and it has the brand name emblazoned boldly across the front, back or down the sleeve.
ReplyDeleteAs for ideas that flopped, I had one of the original Apple Newtons and used it regularly to do "on the fly student assessments" I loved it, talked about it, opened my classroom on several occasions to demonstrate it. Alas Steve Jobs ended the Newton.
As for instructors being remarkable, I tried every semester I was at Iowa to get into one of Jay Holstein's classes. I could never get it scheduled or it was always full because he was known to be remarkable. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT_1Kw24TQo He was remarkable for about four decades at Iowa.
As an educator I am a little saddened by the thought that something as seemingly mundane as excitement for the subject would be remarkable. As a student and thinking about the other teachers I have worked with I am afraid that I have to agree that being excited about teaching the subject an individual teacher has chosen as a career is remarkable.
Jay Holstein came to Coe once, I'd say about 1994. He was an excellent and dynamic speaker, flashy yet thought-provoking. He talked about the Creation, suggesting "the Fall" was part of God's plan since if humans lived forever they would overpopulate. He was obviously remarkable enough that I remember his talk after 18 years!
DeleteI find Godin's message to be a bit depressing when focusing on the quality of some of the "purple cows" he mentions. It's a sad commentary on society today that people buy salad water, have themselves made into gemstones when they die, and (potentially) make pilgrimages to giant lava lamps. I do think, though, that it is important to notice this trend. And to think about purple cows that are remarkable and not ridiculous. It is also interesting to think about how an institution like Coe might use this trend to its advantage. How might Coe create a purple cow to attract certain students or large monetary donations? Could the same purple cow be used for both purposes, or not? These are huge, difficult questions-- and ones that remind me why I didn't go into PR or marketing!
ReplyDelete