Most security business owners resist this concept. They worry that being “different” means being unprofessional. They fear that standing out might cost them that big commercial contract. So they play it safe, choosing invisible over remarkable.
What they miss is that playing it safe is the riskiest strategy in today’s market. While they are blending in, hoping customers somehow find them, a competitor brave enough to be purple is capturing all the attention.
The Pink Van Story
Several years ago, I worked with a husband-and-wife team who owned a security company on the East Coast. During our brand strategy session, we discussed updating their company colors as part of their logo design update. After suggesting the usual blues and grays, the wife jokingly said, “What about pink?”
The room went quiet. Then we asked, “When’s the last time you saw a pink security van driving down the street?”
Within 10 minutes, we had convinced them to incorporate pink as one of their primary colors. Their competitors thought they were crazy. Their customers? They couldn’t stop talking about “the pink van company.”
The pink vans became their calling card. In a sea of forgettable white vehicles, they owned memorability. New customers would say they’ve “been seeing your vans everywhere,” when in actuality, they hadn’t increased their fleet at all – they had just become impossible to miss.
Your Purple Cow Playbook
You don’t need a pink van to be remarkable. Here’s a Purple Cow tactic any small security company (think 1-5 employees) can implement for less than $1,000: Create a “Neighborhood Security Report” – a monthly two-minute video analyzing recent local security incidents. Using just your phone, discuss what happened on Main Street, how it could have been prevented, and share one specific tip. Post it in Facebook community groups and on NextDoor.
Why does this work? The nationals can’t talk about the Smith house break-in on Elm Street. You can. While big companies hide behind corporate messaging, you become THE accessible local expert. Your neighbors share safety content rapidly; one relevant video could reach thousands organically.
Right now, your competitors are reading this same article. Most will nod, agree it makes sense, then go back to their brown cow marketing tactics. They’ll keep doing “what has always worked” and wonder why growth is so hard.
Not you. You’re different. You see what they don’t: While competitors huddle in sameness, the brave own the market. Here’s my challenge: What’s one thing you could do tomorrow that would make competitors say, “I can’t believe they did that?”
That discomfort you are feeling? That’s your Purple Cow moment waiting to happen.
