Purple Cows & Blue Turf: How to Make Your Marketing Remarkable

23th Edition: Through the Funnel (Marketing News & Jobs)

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MarketingHQ
February 15, 2025

News From MHQ to You 📰

Welcome to a special guest edition of the newsletter, written by Brendan C. Hall, Esports Coordinator at Endicott College. Brendan brings a fresh perspective on marketing, creativity, and standing out in a crowded world. Big thanks to him for sharing his insights!

When the Universe Pushes an Idea Forward

In my Esports Marketing & Fan Engagement class at Endicott College, I assign Seth Godin’s Purple Cow as required reading. If you’re reading this newsletter, you’ve probably heard of Godin. He’s a marketing legend, known for coining terms like permission marketing, which shaped many of today’s most successful campaigns.

Purple Cow isn’t about esports—but it applies to everything from tech to plumbing. Godin’s core idea is simple: If you’re driving through the countryside, you ignore the black and brown cows. But if you see a purple cow, you stop, talk about it, and tell your friends.

The takeaway? Being different isn’t just an advantage—it’s a necessity.

Last week, we had a visit on campus from Paakow Essandoh, founder of streetwear company MIZIZI, which designed our esports teams’ uniforms for 2025. He gave a lecture in the business school about his journey as an entrepreneur, creating a product that is just off-the-charts remarkable. Seriously, check out some of these African jersey designs. (As a kid who grew up on Coming To America, I’m partial to the Zamunda one).

Paakow’s story is an awesome lesson in what happens when your product empowers your community to self-organize. When his pitch to design a Wakanda baseball jersey ahead of the release of Black Panther got shut down by Disney, he did something most of us would be too scared to do. He posted the mockup on his socials, IP rights be damned. His fans were so enamored by it that they created a viral movement demanding Disney let MIZIZI do the jersey. They eventually caved, and you can buy it right now for $110.

In his lecture to hundreds of business students and athletes, he mentioned — wait for it — “Purple Cow” as one of the most inspirational books he’s ever read. 🐄

And a month ago, I had one of the most respected voices in collegiate esports, Boise State’s Chris “Doc” Haskell, on my podcast. We talked about their “Blue Turf” mindset.

Boise State & Blue Turf Thinking 

Boise State shouldn’t be a football powerhouse. But in 1985, they made a bold move: They installed blue turf to match their team colors. At the time, they weren’t even a Division I school.

Fast forward 40 years, and Boise State is a national contender in both football and esports, with a million-dollar esports budget. That weird, different, remarkable decision became their identity.

Doc Haskell put it best:

The blue turf famously gets you harassed by lots of folks. But for us, it’s a litmus test. If you can handle doing things a little differently, you can have success here.

The lesson? Being different attracts people who embrace different.

Creativity isn’t a lightning bolt of genius at 2 AM. It’s a process. And without a system to develop creative muscles, you won’t last long in marketing.

Here are two frameworks I use to spark creativity:

1. The “Bad Idea” Brainstorm

A creative director in the NFL taught me this. Great ideas emerge when you remove ego and judgment from brainstorming. Here’s how it works:

  • Throw out deliberately bad ideas for a problem you’re solving.

  • Identify why they’re bad.

  • Work backward to something that does work.

Example: Someone jokes about putting the MarketingHQ logo on the moon. Why? Because it’s visible to everyone. Now, we’re thinking about visibility in new ways.

2. The “Oracle” Exercise

From Roger von Oech’s A Whack on the Side of the Head, this technique forces new perspectives.

  • Pick a random object (e.g., a road sign, a landmark on a map).

  • Associate its meaning with your challenge.

  • Use that connection to rethink your problem.

Once, I landed on Devil’s Tower while doing this exercise. Learning that Native American folklore saw it as a way to “lift people to the stars” inspired a new way to frame a product launch—turning users into “rock stars.”

So, What’s Your Purple Cow?

Your product alone doesn’t win. Products with the best ecosystems win. You need to create a space where people can self-organize and feel part of something bigger.

If you want to stand out, you need to be remarkable. That requires creativity—and an understanding that playing it safe is often the riskiest move.

How are you standing out? Reach out to me directly:

Brendan C. Hall
Esports Coordinator, Endicott College
Twitter/X, LinkedIn: @bhallwrites
Email: [email protected]

If you’re looking for further inspiration, I’ve been telling stories for two decades for some of the most renowned brands in North America. I speak frequently on the principles that make great storytelling, the latest of which you can view here.

And if you’re interested in being a guest writer for a future MHQ newsletter edition, drop a line to [email protected].

Career Up 🚀

 đŸšœ Looking for Greener Pastures? We found Them:

VP Brand & Experiences - CrowdStrike - Remote ($320k - $370k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/110542607-vp-brand-experiences-remote

VP Global Field Marketing - Fastly ($296.54k - $370.68k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/110937946-vp-global-field-marketing-san-francisco-ca

VP Global Marketing & Growth Strategy - BritBox ($175k - $200k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/108438603-vp-global-marketing-growth-strategy

Senior Director Growth Marketing - Jfrog ($240,000 to $260,000) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/96465725-senior-director-growth-marketing

Director/Senior Director Corporate Marketing and Communications - Click Therapeutics, Inc. ($170k - $230k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/99687398-director-senior-director-corporate-marketing-and-communications

Senior Director Digital Marketing - Brivo - Remote ($170k - $190k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/106928278-senior-director-digital-marketing

Director Brand Strategy - National Basketball Association/NBA ($135k - $155k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/91555745-director-brand-strategy

Marketing Director - Level All ($150k - $175k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/110936001-marketing-director

Marketing Director - CTS Corporation ($130k - $175k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/93382334-marketing-director

Director Global Head of Product Marketing - Instagram ($227k - $296k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/110710929-director-global-head-of-consumer-product-marketing-instagram

Senior Marketing Manager - The TJX Companies, Inc. ($111.30k - $144.80k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/110710927-senior-marketing-manager

Sr. Manager Event and Field Marketing - Instabase ($162.45k - $180.50k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/110716878-sr-manager-event-and-field-marketing

Customer Marketing Manager - Jasper - Remote ($135k - $155k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/108383922-customer-marketing-manager 

Channel Marketing Manager - Western Digital - Remote ($104.30k - $147.70k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/92946279-channel-marketing-manager

Digital Marketing Manager - CINQCARE ($120k - $130k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/110379070-digital-marketing-manager

Event Marketing Lead - monday.com ($130k - $160k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/101992497-event-marketing-lead

Marketing & Brand Communications Manager - Spotify ($109.07k - $155.82k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/110936000-manager-marketing-brand-communications

Product Marketer - AirGarage - Remote ($135k - $155k) https://jobs.marketinghq.io/jobs/110936015-product-marketer

Find MANY more marketing career opportunities, across all functions and seniority levels, on our Job Board MarketingHQ

Until Next Time

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- The MHQ Team