I opened my email and I came across a brilliant little letter from cdbaby.com where I had recently purchased music online. The purpose of the email was to tell me where to go if I had any problems with the download. It could have easily read: Dear Sir/Madam, Thank you for your purchase. If you have any
trouble with it then please look here for our FAQ section.
Simple concise and it gets the information across. It is also as boring as watching paint dry. It is the same as every other email from any other online purchase outlet I buy from.
Instead I got a well crafted email from the fictional “e-gnome emissary” who resides in cyberspace and had “overseen” the shipment of my package. It told me how the whole cyberworld was so excited to see my electronic delivery go out and if I had any problems to check out the FAQ or contact him.
It was brilliant, and made me want to run back to the site to make another purchase just to get another email (I would happily put the whole text of the email up but rather go buy your own and get the pleasure of your own email).
Seth Godin affectionadoes will recognise this as a “purple cow”; something so exceptional that it stands out from the norm. To summarise Mr Godin, we all know what cows look like and as long as you look like other cows no one will ever notice you, but be a purple cow and everyone will notice how exceptional and amazing you are because you stand out.
The email was so unexpected and so different that it has made an incredible impact on my day, imagine if your product did the same thing to all your customers.
Music videos used to be boring shots of the band playing the songs with the odd flashing light, having stemmed from shows like “Top-of-the-Pops” they were not much to look at. Then Michael Jackson arrived on the scene and turned the music video into an art form. The first music video that involved dance and a story line left lasting impressions and the music world has never been the same.
People are drawn to what stands out. Watch a choir and you will either look at the person with the biggest smile or the person picking their nose in the second row. Great or revolting we notice the extremes.
Extremely bad happens naturally most of the time we don’t need much help there, extremely great takes deliberate effort and intention and an in-depth understanding of your market. Cdbaby sell independent music and not mainstream labels. They know that there is a small group of people who will take the time to find and buy indie music and the email they crafted caters to the “out-of-the-norm” type of customer they attract. They know their market.
It probably was not the first email that got drafted either. It may have been the first idea, but I doubt it. Deliberate, intentional planning and rewriting would have taken place to get just the right effect. You are aiming for the “Holy cow . . . Did I just see that” moment in your clients. The type of service, communication, product or experience that makes them tell everyone else about it. How can you make your product stand out?
Make your story exceptional and it will be remembered and retold.
Standing out takes effort but hit the right note and everyone will notice. There was a time when all you got in most Harare restaurants was sponge cake (throw back from the British influence) then one coffee shop started serving a richer German-type cake. People flocked to try it and soon nearly every other coffee shop had something similar on its menu.
So one last thing on the purple cow, sooner or later everyone else may start to copy your idea, then you have to create something even better to stand out.
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