The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
You still haven’t read this yet? Well, the basic premise of this novel is that word of mouth is one of the key sources for success in today’s marketplace. Gladwell explains how to systematically engineer a word of mouth epidemic—control that no one thought was possible. It’s genuinely fascinating. I’ve boiled it down to its key points and enlightening realizations. Enjoy.
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The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
by Malcolm Gladwell
- Definition – The tipping point is the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point.
- Epidemics tip because of extraordinary efforts of a select carrier
- stickiness – means message makes an impact
- 3 rules of the Tipping Point: (Law of the Few, Stickiness Factor, Power of Context)
- connectors are one of the few –people who have a special ability for bringing the world together : they have mastered the “weak tie” which is when you have lot’s of friends by casual social connections
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when it comes to finding out about new ideas “weak ties” are always more important than strong ties. Because our friends occupy the same world that you do.
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Word of mouth – it’s not me telling you about a new restaurant with great food, and you telling a friend, that friend telling a friend, etc. Instead, word of mouth begins when one of those friends tells a connector and the bam! Word of mouth requires connectors.
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Mavens – a person who has lot’s of information on different products, prices, or places – like to be helpers in market place, distribute coupons. They take you shopping, has the inside schoop on the marketplace.
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Mavens are not persuaders. Their motivation is to educate and to help.
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Salesman – what makes someone persuasive?
- small things can make as significant a difference as big things
- non verbal cues are as important/more important than verbal cues
- *persuasion works in ways we do not appreciate or realize * -
Emotional contagion – emotion goes outside in. Ex. If I can make you smile, I can make you happy. Make you frown, make you sad.
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One critical factor in epidemics is the nature of the messenger. The messenger must have credibility and reputation (like Paul Revere)
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It’s possible to systematically engineer stickiness into a message
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The line between hostility and acceptance, between and epidemic that tips and one that does not, is sometimes a lot more narrow than it seems. Ex. Adding Big Bird to Sesame Street, or adding a map to a pamphlet
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Ideas have to be memorable and move us to action.
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Crime is contagious like fashion—broken window can turn into an epidemic
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Minor things can be tipping points for huge spread
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power of context – says what really matters is the little things
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good substance -> makes it sticky ->salesman ->context
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people want inclusion—want to be part of a group
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If you want to bring change in beliefs and behavior you must create a community around them, where beliefs can be practiced and expressed and nurtured.
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Rule of 150 : once membership in a community surpasses 150 it is no longer as effective.
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Better off to build lot’s of little communities, rather than one big one (or two big ones). Because crossing the 150 line is a small change that can make a huge difference
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When making a community, structure it like a family—builds intimacy and trust. This will help to naturally create delegation more effectively.
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To create one big contagion, must create many many small movements.
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Early Adopters & Innovators – are visionaries.
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Following the ride of success requires you to help show benefits of product to early majority because they may not be attracted to the same aspects as an early adopter.
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The early majority takes the product the early adopter liked and tweaks it to fit their own wants—to change it and make it okay for them. It is key that you help them see it can be changed to fit their needs—to get past the style of the innovators.
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How mavens and connectors and salesman make an idea contagious- they alter the idea so that extra details are stripped and others are exaggerated so that the message comes to acquire a deeper meaning.
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Trendsetter kids – they pick up on bigger things. Mainstream kids are thinking about being overweight, their grandparents dying, etc. Trendsetter kids are typically activists, people with more passion.
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What Airwalk did was find the trends in their infancy and then associate their products with these trends and then assimilated the trends into mainstream—in a pair of shoes.
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The way Airwalk kept from losing the coolness factor of the innovators was by segmenting distribution so limited edition went to certain places. Made consumers feel special. Make sure to promise stores the exclusive and then keep that promise.
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People need permission from others to jump onboard. So, they need to see other people liking it. The people who give permission are the salemen.
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The tipping person can be the Maven, the Salesman, or the Connector.
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Get the cool people to give permission to everyone else—(ex. Smoking was never cool. Smokers just happened to be cool kids. So, everyone wanted to mimic the cool kids.)
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Contagion is a function of the messenger. Stickiness is primarily a property of the message.
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Be Smart. Change context of the message. Change messenger. Change the message.
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The cure for immunity to marketing your message is finding mavens, connectors, and salesmen to do it for you.
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Find mavens by creating “maven traps.”
Popularity: 82% [?]
on May 17th, 2007 at 12:41 am
This is an awesome list and outline of the key point of The Tipping Point! Thanks for putting it together.
on January 7th, 2008 at 7:24 am
very interesting.
i’m adding in RSS Reader
on March 26th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
[…] What is a Maven? The wikipedia describes a Maven as “a trusted expert in a particular field, who seeks to pass knowledge on to others.” Although Mavens do a good job of persuading people, their primary goal is not to persuade their audience but rather educate and help their audience. What is a Connector? The wikipedia describes a Connector as “people in a community who know large numbers of people and who are in the habit of making introductions. Connectors usually know people across an array of social, planes, cultural, professional, and economic circles, and make a habit of introducing people who work or live in different circles.”Finding and obtaining Mavens and Connectors is a critical part of Damage Control and Word of Mouth Marketing. Word of Mouth Marketing requires Connectors. Damage Control requires Mavens. It begins when one of those friends tells a Connector or a Maven, and then takes watch as the word spread all across the internet. To be a Maven, you don’t have to have a celebrity status or tons of credentials under your belt. Actually, you really don’t have to know what you are talking about. Mavens obtain a powerful voice not by worldly status and achievement, but by their personal views and the particular stance they tend to take with products and friends. These people inspire others, and never out of envy but rather out of love and respect for the topic in discussion. But Mavens are hard to track, and often times you’ll find yourself wondering, “where ARE all the Mavens?” There are several “traps” one can do to collect these Mavens. As Jonathon Greensted points out in Malcolm Gladwell’ “The Tipping Point”, one of the most common approaches businesses use to recognize their mavens is placing “Questions, Comments? Call 1-888-888-8888” directly on their packaging. These companies know that only a fraction of their consumers would actually call that number, but nonetheless they realize that those consumers who would actually call are passionate about their product. Once you collect the consumers who are passionate about your product, you’ve begun to build your Social Networking and Word of Mouth Marketing army.However, I want to reiterate that you do not have to become an expert in the subject to be a Maven, you just have to have a respected following. Mavens who are NOT industry experts are just as important as those who are, since often times their following looks up to their unbiased opinion. What that really means is a 14 year old boy from Boston can essentially become a maven for BMW just by building a respective following and portraying his opinions towards BMW from an honest, 14 year old boy’s perspective. Even if he has no prior knowledge of your product and services, what he has to say can influence just as many people as an expert’s opinion since he will be speaking on behalf of all males in his age group. Therefore, these Mavens must be treated with just as much respect as industry experts. Lastly, there is a final type of Mavens called “Connectors”. Often you do not need to worry about finding the Connectors, for they do a good job of finding you. Connectors thrive on bringing everyone together, and love to network. They have mastered social networking and have built a strong bond through an otherwise weak tie. It can be somewhat easy to recognize these Mavens and Connectors since you see their name, pictures & comments posted everywhere - followed by HEAVY responses and comments from other users in regards to their posting. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to collect and obtain Mavens on your side since what they are most passionate about is not necessarily your product. Regardless, companies still need to reach out and engage Mavens and Connectors to blog on their product, company or industry. These Product Mavens are extremely influential in subliminally soliciting potential customers who find and use Maven sites. Mavens are looking for information to spread. Engage these Mavens just as you would try to engage industry press or industry analysts.My best advice is to be personable, honest and open with who you are and what you are trying to accomplish. Since no one likes to be “used”, by portraying a high level of respect while gaining the Maven’s friendship (through an honest and personable approach) the Maven most likely will notice and appreciate the respect. After all, everyone is here to network and stay in the loop, and everyone loves to be respected.Once you know who your general consumers, connectors mavens are - what they like, and who their friends are - you can really start to cater to them by creating an online focus group for them to interact, share and inspire one another in an interactive environment you can control and learn from. When building this community, structure it like a family—it helps build intimacy and trust. This will help to naturally create delegation and monitor results more effectively. It is also best to note that according to Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference”, once membership in a community surpasses 150 it is no longer as effective.Betty Crocker has done many great wonders in the viral marketing world and by utilizing their audience’s resources, they’re able to make a better product for their favorite customers, the people who buy their product the most. By pulling them together into an online community, they have provided their users with an environment that allows them to share recipes and learn secrets from other users who love Betty Crocker as much as they do. Along the way, Corporate Betty’s are able to document, record and analyze the conversations of their dedicated users and perfect their product and service. They are also able to make their online audience feel special by providing them with exclusive offers, secret tips and first dibs on new Betty Crocker products - which is really meant to allow Betty Crocker to test and improve their new products before releasing it to the masses. By building online focus groups of their target audience, Betty Crocker has portrayed an ingenius plan of Maven Recognition. Once maven recognition is complete and your mavens have been obtained, damage control for your company or product becomes no problem - but that’s another blog. In the meantime, collect your mavens! Trust me, you’ll need them. Anthonyhttp://msmvps.com/blogs/jonathangreensted/archive/2005/02/20/36506.aspxhttp://www.bornentrepreneur.com/2006/12/17/the-tipping-point-how-little-things-can-make-a-big-difference/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mavenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connector_%28social%29http://www.iaocblog.com/blog/_archives/2005/3/17/446864.html Link to this Post: […]
on March 26th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
[…] What is a Maven? The wikipedia describes a Maven as “a trusted expert in a particular field, who seeks to pass knowledge on to others.” Although Mavens do a good job of persuading people, their primary goal is not to persuade their audience but rather educate and help their audience. What is a Connector? The wikipedia describes a Connector as “people in a community who know large numbers of people and who are in the habit of making introductions. Connectors usually know people across an array of social, planes, cultural, professional, and economic circles, and make a habit of introducing people who work or live in different circles.”Finding and obtaining Mavens and Connectors is a critical part of Damage Control and Word of Mouth Marketing. Word of Mouth Marketing requires Connectors. Damage Control requires Mavens. It begins when one of those friends tells a Connector or a Maven, and then takes watch as the word spreads all across the internet. To be a Maven, you don’t have to have a celebrity status or tons of credentials under your belt. Actually, you really don’t have to know what you are talking about. Mavens obtain a powerful voice not by worldly status and achievement, but by their personal views and the particular stance they tend to take with products and friends. These people inspire others, and never out of envy but rather out of love and respect for the topic in discussion. But Mavens are hard to track, and often times you’ll find yourself wondering, “where ARE all the Mavens?” There are several “traps” one can do to collect these Mavens. As Jonathon Greensted points out in Malcolm Gladwell’ “The Tipping Point”, one of the most common approaches businesses use to recognize their mavens is placing “Questions, Comments? Call 1-888-888-8888” directly on their packaging. These companies know that only a fraction of their consumers would actually call that number, but nonetheless they realize that those consumers who would actually call are passionate about their product. Once you collect the consumers who are passionate about your product, you’ve begun to build your Social Networking and Word of Mouth Marketing army.However, I want to reiterate that you do not have to become an expert in the subject to be a Maven, you just have to have a respected following. Mavens who are NOT industry experts are just as important as those who are, since often times their following looks up to their unbiased opinion. What that really means is a 14 year old boy from Boston can essentially become a maven for BMW just by building a respective following and portraying his opinions towards BMW from an honest, 14 year old boy’s perspective. Even if he has no prior knowledge of your product and services, what he has to say can influence just as many people as an expert’s opinion since he will be speaking on behalf of all males in his age group. Therefore, these Mavens must be treated with just as much respect as industry experts. Lastly, there is a final type of Mavens called “Connectors”. Often you do not need to worry about finding the Connectors, for they do a good job of finding you. Connectors thrive on bringing everyone together, and love to network. They have mastered social networking and have built a strong bond through an otherwise weak tie. It can be somewhat easy to recognize these Mavens and Connectors since you see their name, pictures & comments posted everywhere - followed by HEAVY responses and comments from other users in regards to their posting. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to collect and obtain Mavens on your side since what they are most passionate about is not necessarily your product. Regardless, companies still need to reach out and engage Mavens and Connectors to blog on their product, company or industry. These Product Mavens are extremely influential in subliminally soliciting potential customers who find and use Maven sites. Mavens are looking for information to spread. Engage these Mavens just as you would try to engage industry press or industry analysts.My best advice is to be personable, honest and open with who you are and what you are trying to accomplish. Since no one likes to be “used”, by portraying a high level of respect while gaining the Maven’s friendship (through an honest and personable approach) the Maven most likely will notice and appreciate the respect. After all, everyone is here to network and stay in the loop, and everyone loves to be respected.Once you know who your general consumers, connectors mavens are - what they like, and who their friends are - you can really start to cater to them by creating an online focus group for them to interact, share and inspire one another in an interactive environment you can control and learn from. When building this community, structure it like a family—it helps build intimacy and trust. This will help to naturally create delegation and monitor results more effectively. It is also best to note that according to Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference”, once membership in a community surpasses 150 it is no longer as effective.Betty Crocker has done many great wonders in the viral marketing world and by utilizing their audience’s resources, they’re able to make a better product for their favorite customers, the people who buy their product the most. By pulling them together into an online community, they have provided their users with an environment that allows them to share recipes and learn secrets from other users who love Betty Crocker as much as they do. Along the way, Corporate Betty’s are able to document, record and analyze the conversations of their dedicated users and perfect their product and service. They are also able to make their online audience feel special by providing them with exclusive offers, secret tips and first dibs on new Betty Crocker products - which is really meant to allow Betty Crocker to test and improve their new products before releasing it to the masses. By building online focus groups of their target audience, Betty Crocker has portrayed an ingenius plan of Maven Recognition. Once maven recognition is complete and your mavens have been obtained, damage control for your company or product becomes no problem - but that’s another blog. In the meantime, collect your Mavens! Trust me, you’ll need them. Anthonyhttp://msmvps.com/blogs/jonathangreensted/archive/2005/02/20/36506.aspxhttp://www.bornentrepreneur.com/2006/12/17/the-tipping-point-how-little-things-can-make-a-big-difference/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mavenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connector_%28social%29http://www.iaocblog.com/blog/_archives/2005/3/17/446864.html Link to this Post: […]
on March 26th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
One of my favorite books. Thanks for listing everything out!
http://www.faceyspacey.com/blog/index.php?/authors/98-Anthony-Cerreta