"Purple Cow" - Summary

Imagine how often you come across advertisements in your daily life. They're on your commute, in your social media feeds, and during your favorite TV shows. But unless they're incredibly relevant to your interests, you probably don't pay much attention to them. This is a clear indication of how the world of advertising has evolved. Traditional methods that used to dominate the scene are no longer as effective.

In the past, businesses would heavily depend on large-scale TV and newspaper ads to reach their target audience. However, in today's world, we are bombarded with so many products and ads that many of them simply go unnoticed. For example, marketing guru Seth Godin once noted that hotel guests couldn't remember the names of the companies advertised in a newspaper they had just read.

The current model of advertising can be likened to a funnel. Suppose you're trying to market a new pain reliever. In a drugstore, you're up against a multitude of brands like Advil, Aleve, and Tylenol. To stand out, you have to navigate through this funnel by identifying potential customers, appealing to those who are dissatisfied with their current options, and then convincing a small fraction of them to try and eventually buy your product.

During this process, your target audience becomes significantly smaller, and the ones you do manage to reach are very selective. This wasn't as big of a problem twenty years ago when consumers didn't have as many options. For instance, a few years ago, finding a yoga book was a breeze because there weren't many to choose from. But now, with over 500 yoga books on the market, the competition is fierce. This shift highlights the dramatic changes that have taken place in the advertising industry.