A lot has been written and reviewed about this book on the net. Some interesting references would be:
1. About the book
2. About Malcolm Gladwell
What I would like to write about in this blog is a brief summary of my understanding of the concepts presented in this book and how I personally could implement some of these concepts at work. I believe that theories are not very useful unless they are put into practice !
"The Tipping Point" simply put, describes how Ideas, Products, Messages and Behaviours spread just like viruses. The Author describes three characteristics of epidemics spread by social and biological viruses:
1. Contagiousness
2. The fact that little things can have big effects
and
3. Change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment
The author puts special focus on the third point, "Change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment", which I believe is not readily accepted by the masses. Many classic examples are used to illustrate the same. The explosion of demand for Hush Puppies shoes, spread of STD diseases and fall in crime rate in New York in the 90's.
I also put this concept to test, for a couple of the latest epidemics which came to my mind - the Swine Flu outbreak and the dramatic popularity of Twitter.
Both of these graphs, show how sudden a phenomenon can pick its speed. Both of these are important events which is currently getting regular headlines. Particularly interesting for me is the trend with Twitter, which has recorded almost 2000 % increase in its registered users within one year, 2008 !
Several types of twitter users have contributed to make Twitter so popular. The author also covers the influence of such users in inducing an epidemic (explained later in this article).
[Click here for an interesting documentation of the categories of Twitter users by an independent entity]
Some early birds would have discovered Twitter and its enormous potential, because of its ease of use, ability to appeal to the masses and effortless communication broadcast. Charismatic and influential users would have picked this idea up from the early birds and used it to their advantage (this includes President Obama). And finally probably the masses would have followed these celebrities or charismatic personalities, because of the influence these people have on the behaviour and interests of the common man. And as soon as the application made a hit with the masses, the Twitter usage would have tipped !
Understanding the rules or building blocks of such social epidemics can explain why certain products are marketed as it is right now, and how some politicians spread their power and influence.
I wanted to understand, Viral Marketing, a buzzword in today's highly web social world. The description of the three, so called rules of such "epidemics", illustrated with ample examples in this book, particularly caught my interest.
Rules of an epidemic
As per Malcolm Gladwell, there are three rules of inducing an epidemic:
1. The Law of the Few
2. The Stickiness Factor
3. The Power of Context
The Law of the Few, states that there are special types of people, whom we meet everyday in our daily life, who are at the very center of triggering an epidemic. The author categorizes them as:
i) Connector
ii) Maven
and
iii) Salesman
Connector are those people who have the very special capability of linking people. Even in our daily life, we know certain friends or acquaintances, who were the key for us to build our contacts. There is something about their attitude and approach towards people, that few minutes spent with them, will be well spent and we would remember such a person. Connectors, genuinely love people and value their relationships, most of them which are loose relationships.
Mavens accumulate knowledge and are literally walking encyclopedia's. They relish researching on topics, generally a wide range of interests, and naturally update themselves with the latest about these topics. Mavens not only accumulate information, they also enjoy sharing it with others. They are highly socially motivated.
Connectors, by virtue of their contacts, and Mavens, by virtue of their knowledge, can spark word of mouth epidemics. In a social epidemic, Mavens are data banks, they provide the message and Connectors are the social glue, they spread it.
There is a third category of people, the Salesman. They have an excellent ability to persuade. If one is not convinced about the message, product or idea we hear about, the Salesmen, can persuade them with their special characteristics, to buy into the message, product or idea. They are as important and critical for the tipping of a word of mouth epidemic as the Connectors, or the Mavens.
The Stickiness Factor, states that the message, product or idea, has to be packaged in an irresistible bundle, so that people remember the message, product or idea and are willing to buy to into it.
The author describes this concept with several compelling examples, one of which is a television show for children, where the creators of the show, experiment with various techniques which enable children to learn from TV shows, because the message put across, "Sticks" ! He also illustrates, this concept, with several television advertisement examples, which are very good examples of "The Stickiness Factor". So when I think about several ads in India, the recent Vodafone "zoo zoo" campaign, "Boost is the secret of my energy, our energy", "Onida, neighbours envy, owners pride" etc. What is remarkable is that, these are ads which I have seen many years before, but I can recall them without much strain to my grey cells !
The third and the last rule is, The Power of Context. This rules states that epidemics are sensitive to the conditions and circumstances of the times and places in which they occur. This is also a very important and powerful rule.
Mr. Gladwell, illustrates this concept as well, with lots of examples. One of them is, the reason for the reduction of crime rate in New York and the "Broken Windows" theory.
The widespread reach of internet along with other factors like, broadband accessibility, increasing time spent on the internet, globalisation and its effect on dispersing people to different geographical locations, etc might be few of the important environmental influences for the explosive trends with social networking sites, and predominantly of those like Facebook and Twitter.
A good understanding of these rules, along with an informed and planned implementation of these ideas can induce a social epidemic resulting in an increased adoption of the message, product or idea that you want to put forward.
With favourable environmental aspects, a good message,product or idea, can be propagated with the right choice of Connectors, and verified and backed up by the Mavens. The message, product or idea can then have a sustained life cycle by packaging into a well formed message to the general mass, which will "stick" with them for a long time.
Personally, I am looking forward to implement this concept in our organization to induce a cultural change of sharing knowledge and enhanced inter-team working to deliver a common goal. I believe that the concepts learnt from this book can help in taking this message/idea into practice.
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