Have you seen a Purple Goldfish?

Contributed by: Winston Faircloth

Want to know how to stand out in a sea of competition?  Become a purple goldfish! 

This is the central idea of the Purple Goldfish Project, an upcoming book by Stanley G. Phelps which will catalogue 1001 examples of businesses going above and beyond what is expected, to provide that "little extra" service which makes people want to share their experience with others. 

I found out about Stan's project listening to one of my favorite marketing podcasts "The Marketing Edge"  (i-Tunes link) by Albert Maruggi.  Stan recently shared his five characteristics or rules of a becoming purple goldfish in business:  Relevant, Unexpected, Limited, Expression and Sticky. 

During the podcast, Stan referenced Five Guys Burgers and Fries with two examples of something extra.  Free peanuts at the door while you wait and extra fries with every order.  So, I took it upon myself to check it out and I watched carefully as they packaged my order.  Sure enough, they filled the styrofoam cup with my order and then added another full scoop of fries to every order.  Stan calls this "marketing lagniappe" (lan-yap)... the differentiation of your product/service by giving little unexpected extras. 

Stan is in the process of collecting more inspiring examples of marketing lagniappe and has already posted 300 examples on the website. I also highely recommend his ten minute Purple Goldfish video podcast (i-Tunes link) for other great examples. 

If you have examples from United Ways, please let me know by emailing info@upicsolutions.org