Purple cows, action figures and a new My Big Decision

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: My big decision | Tags: innovation, entrepreneurs, entrepreneur, My Big Decision, marketing, brand, Seth Godin, action figure, purple cow, doll

We’re pleased to announce that our next My Big Decision interviewee will be the world-famous marketer and blogger, Seth Godin – coming shortly on Elevate. Interspersed with him talking about a critical decision he has made, however, are glimpses of the Kewpie Doll and figures collection he keeps in his office - ending on shot of a Seth Godin ‘Mini-Me’. Yes, it seems the man has his own action figure! Here’s the story of the doll…

(Discover more My Big Decision videos.)

To Seth Godin fans, this is old news – he blogged about getting his own action figure back in 2007, saying:

“Yes, it’s funny. Yes it’s real … this one is a dream come true for me. It’s also an interesting take on the ‘brand as souvenir’ riff we’ve been talking about. Do you think it will outsell Freud? Or the Librarian action figure? Surely I can beat the librarian…

The story behind the Seth Godin Action Figure (SGAF) stems from his bestselling book, Purple Cow - Purple Cows being those remarkable things you do that are so unique and fascinating, they become a talking point that can transform your business.

The art of being remarkable here was that no-one else in the world of commerce had an action figure – and so the business doll was funny/interesting/unique enough to create headlines around Seth Godin and his work.

So should you run out and make a business leader action figure out of your chief executive?

Perhaps only if it’s spot-on brand-wise – as it is for Godin, whose brand is partly formed from his trademark mismatched socks, purple tie and bald head (which you can apparently rub to gain marketing insights into what your customers want).

The bad news is that Seth’s Marketing Guru Action Figure is only for sale in the US – with profits from the $8.95 sale price going to charity.

The good news is that no-one has done it in the UK yet…

You could even go the whole hog and accessorise your ‘Mini-Me’ with a set of Paparazzi photographers, some Horrified B-movie victims, or even a set of Office monkeys.

Alternatively, the world of finger puppet CEOs appears untapped…

Image: © Betsy Weber/Flickr, 2008

You might also like:
* Chris Anderson: My Big Decision
* Gigonomics and the hustle economy
* 10 ways to be a CEO blogger