Have you seen any purple goldfish lately?

When it comes to the understanding how important it is for a business to make its customers feel good, some people just get it. Or – well – they more than get it, they understand that it means everything. It can make a business, break a business, and most importantly differentiate a business.

Stan Phelps is one of those people who “gets it.” While the video on his website is four minutes long, it took less than thirty seconds before I was intrigued. Stan is a marketer and author of the upcoming book, “Marketing Lagniappe: In Search of Your Purple Goldfish.” I’m excited to read it.

“Lagniappe?” you might ask, “And purple goldfish?” They’re carefully chosen words.

Purple represents differentiation, to “stand out and be remarkable to your customers."

Phelps explains lagniappe (pronounced lăn-yăp) both by definition, “a small gift at the time of purchase, or an extra or unexpected gift or benefit” and also through a quote by Mark Twain: “It’s the equivalent to the 13th roll in a baker’s dozen, something thrown in for good measure”.

What Phelps really understands and what he wants to share with the world is the importance of lagniappe. He feels lagniappe is “sorely missing in today’s business environment” and challenges businesses to find their purple goldfish. He mentions Seth Godin’s book “Purple Cow” in explaining that purple represents differentiation, to “stand out and be remarkable to your customers.”

The goldfish represents a business or product, with its growth being affected by four things: the size of the habitat (the market), the number of others in that habitat (competition), the quality of the fishbowl’s water (the economy), and the goldfish’s genetic composition including what makes the goldfish unique (differentiation). Just like a goldfish in a fishbowl, a business might not have control over the first three things, but “the one thing [they] have total control of is how to differentiate itself.”

Have you seen any purple goldfish lately? In other words, have you done business with a company that has “wowed” you? Then share your story!

To promote his upcoming book, Phelps is looking for examples of marketing lagniappe. For each example you pass along, Phelps will donate a non-perishable item to his local charity. If your story gets published in his book, you’ll receive a signed copy when it comes out!

Email your customer stories to stan@9inchmarketing.com or visit marketinglagniappe.com.