Purple Cow "Likes"

Be Remarkable
Because the impact of traditional marketing mediums such as newspapers and magazines are less effective, author Seth Godin suggests making your product or service remarkable or risk invisibility in the marketplace. He refers to this technique as a Purple Cow, something worth making a remark about. Companies need to stop advertising and start innovating by targeting a unique niche audience with something so remarkable and innovative it gets people talking.

If there is enough value in the Albers Graduate Student Association students will want to give back and continue participating in events to better the opportunities for Albers students. For example, we are working to create a job bank network on LinkedIn where current students and alumni can post job openings targeted toward Albers MBA grads. This will keep people engaged with the association for years to come and help connect people with new business ventures. Not only will new job openings be posted but the hope is that students can market themselves on AGSA LinkedIn to other students so when an entrepreneur needs a financial analysts or expert marketing exec they can refer back to the AGSA network and recruit a colleague to the project.

Another possible Purple Cow is to create a space where Professors can request guest lecturer volunteers from previous students. At least once a quarter in every class I have had an Albers alumni guest speaker and have been asked by a marketing professor to stay in contact and come back to speak in his class after graduation. If there was a space available for Professors to post guest lecture requests even greater value would be created for AGSA students and faculty alike - these types of concepts are the unique Purple Cow's that target the AGSA niche audience. AGSA's Purple Cow is providing a unique network of trusted colleagues from Seattle University that empower one another to succeed and make a grand impact within the Puget Sound business industry. Without AGSA many of these connections would not be made as easily.

Identify the "sneezers" in your niche audience.
Consumers are overwhelmed with information, generally satisfied with their current products, services and trusted companies, and have little time to listen and understand your marketing pitch. It is therefore difficult to obtain new clients. Companies are better served by marketing to a niche audience that wants to listen about the company, "...it's cheaper to keep an old customer than to make the effort to get a new one." Therefore, it is important to identify your unique niche audience and who the "sneezers" are within this audience. "Sneezers" are the people who talk about your product and service, they spread your ideas like a virus, "ideavirus." It is equally important to create a product or service that caters to this audience, not a product that satisfies "everyone" in the marketplace because there are already too many product offerings from which to choose. Advertise to your "sneezers" at the right time and place so they can spread the word to their friends and colleagues.

Since AGSA is just getting started it is easy to identify our niche market. It includes the current 130 Facebook fans that have been supporting and spreading the word about AGSA from its onset. It will be important to focus marketing toward this niche to help spread the word about AGSA to current and new students. Although it is better to focus on keeping "old customers" than obtaining new; AGSA is a service for students whose member participation turns over every two to four years. Therefore, it is important to market toward incoming "freshmen" MBA students. But if enough value can be created in AGSA, member participation can exceed the current organizational structure that focuses solely on current and new students and expand to greater, more engaging alumni participation; thus, marketing toward the niche "current customers" as Godin suggests. Active Albers alumni already have a vested interest in Seattle University and therefore should be one of the primary niche target audiences. Alumni are "the talkers," "the movers," "the shakers," the people with the power, money and position to make change, influence others and help current Albers students network and succeed. LinkedIn will provide the medium and Purple Cow tools necessary to engage alumni and current students.

"Likes" trump reviews, but face-to-face wins overall
How do people show support for organizations they like? - 75% physically tell a friend and 20% "like" it on Facebook. AGSA needs to harness the power of its "talkers" and "sneezers" and not just focus on online marketing tactics. The more face-to-face encounters promoting AGSA the more perceived value will be created and the more awareness will spread. Not only is it important to discuss AGSA at new student orientations and prospective student information sessions but creating a face-to-face opportunity to promote AGSA to current students will be vital to its success. Therefore, AGSA is currently working on creating a "common break" during the first week of fall quarter. AGSA will request that Professors take their class break at the same time Monday - Thursday from 7:15 - 7:30pm to allow students to socialize together while on campus. During this time AGSA will provide refreshments and music in the atrium. There will also be a booth where people can sign-up for the mailing list, click on the QR code Facebook and Twitter link with their mobile devices and pick-up an AGSA water bottle filled with handouts and information about upcoming events and meetings. The hope is to create a networking opportunity for students at a convenient time so they don't have to take extra time away from work and family to participate in AGSA networking events. AGSA wants to bring students closer together and make school more cohesive, fun and interactive. Hopefully this common break event will get students and faculty excited and talking more face-to-face about AGSA and its benefits.

Additionally, "people care about the face behind the name." The more students see one another promoting AGSA in the halls, at information session and orientation meetings the more likely they will be to strike up a conversation with that individual about AGSA in the future. They will start to recognize the faces that are involved with the senate and who regularly attend and promote AGSA, thus the trust in the organization will grow. It is therefore, important to have pictures of current officers on Facebook, LinkedIn and the wedsite to identify participants and have them make recommendations online. "Almost half (47%) of people under age 35 are more influenced to try a business from the owner of the establishment than a friend."