Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

Originality and creativity can't be teached. It comes naturally and is a gift. Maybe steering away from the odd colored items and animals may be truly out of box and help you differentiate away from the gimmicks.

Dorothy,

A profitable airline stands out (just kidding)


An open highway with a string of green lights...except one red one right in the middle of the path. Not that it would fit your business but a slogan of "timing is everything" comes to mind for that.

Michael

Thank you all for your feedback - quite insightful. It does give me food for thought.

Michael I quite like your sense of humour - a profitable airline for sure would be a good image - can you see it? :-).

I'm tending towards Carol's ideas. I'm still open to others.

Good stuff all.

But what specifically are you selling? Any image that differs from those around it will connote different. What you want is to identify images that resonate with those likely to be interested in your services.

Dear Dorothy,

Here are six ideas to get the ball rolling:

A blue banana in a bunch of regular bananas.
A black sheep in a flock of white sheep.
A free climber climbing next to a harnessed, roped climber.
A bright red front door on a street of houses all with black doors.
A house covered in Christmas lights against its darker neighbours.
A tree in full leaf in a woodland scene of trees without leaves.

I hope they help, or that they at least spark additional thoughts.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

All grand ideas. However, an image of any kind (even an actual purple cow) doesn't make you remarkable.

Selling mismatched socks makes you remarkable (Little Miss Match) or insane customer service (Zappos) or giving shoes to poor kids for every pair purchased (Tom's Shoes).

You don't need an image, you need a passion and a mission. It's not just the image on your site, it's what the site says, and what the company does that make you "purple".

Just my two cents.

Jodi

Dear Dorothy,

Hot on the heels of Jodi's EXCELLENT point is this: why should anyone—ANYONE—care about you?

Why would they give you their money? Hmm?

Having or being the best value because without something to make you worth commenting on isn't enough. True, value in and of itself is nice. But it does not make you stand out. It's not an orange box you can stand on to make yourself look taller than anyone else.

What is in the TRANSACTIONAL arrangement for your customer? Hit me with pretty pictures and eventually, you'll bore my socks off and I'll bugger off and spend my money somewhere else.

BUT—

Thrill, delight, inspire, amaze, stun, and impress me by meeting my needs and by exceeding my expectations and BINGO! You have my unwavering attention.

Make me want to tell OTHER PEOPLE about your product, service, widget, or whatever you're offering the marketplace and THEN you'll have created your cow, purple or otherwise.

In truth, the COLOUR of the cow matters not one jot.

It's how the cow stops me in my tracks and CHANGES MY PERCEPTION that matters most.

It's how the cow makes me feel and what the cow leads me to say to other people that TRULY makes a difference.

I hope this helps.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

I am particularly fond of antlers painted fuschia right now. Saw it on some television show and haven't been the same since. You can get fake antlers if the real ones aren't your thing.

Kind of a random thought, but it might work. We could help you more easily if you could tell us what your site sells. . .

Good luck!
KKW

Thank you all for the vigorous discussion and ideas. I appreciate each and everyone.

Yes, it's the insane customer service, the organization with a heart or the company that creates raving fans that will truly create the purple cow experience.

The objective was to find an image that helped to convey the message and at least provide an opportunity to begin a conversation, pique interest, create awareness of why this service will help you, the customer/prospect to stand out or be different. It's not the intention to substitute an image for a relationship or an experience.

I think Carol best understood my need. The service - small business event marketing.

Thanks again everyone for your feedback.