Finally.... finished reading the book. Have to admit that there was somewhat some kinda inertia when reading this. Hahaa... I was rather slow in absorbing what proved to be rather interesting theories. Guess at this point of time in my life, I was looking for more light-hearted stuff...
Anyway, decided to try my luck and put the book up for grabs in Yahoo Auctions. I figured that I should do this once I know that books that I buy are not meant for keeps in my collection. Got to do this before it collects cob webs and dust in my 'filled-to-the-brim' book cupboard.
However, decided to post up some notes here so that I can recall and reflect on my take-aways on this book...
Plot:
The Tipping Pt is the moment when an idea, trend or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips and spreads like wildfire i.e. like an epidemic. This phenomenon is crucial in the selling and dissemination of ideas and information.
Key Factors:
i) The Law of the Few - You don't need many people to make an idea or a project successful. All you need is just a few. However, these few have to be exceptional people who are able to spread the word through social connections and energy, enthusiasm and personality.
ii) The Stickiness Factor - The key in successful marketing campaigns is the element of contagiousness. It means to make the idea reach as many people as possible because there is an impact in the method of marketing. It sticks in peoples' memories and it's difficult to get it out of your head. For example, it's difficult to forget KFC's "Finger licking good" tagline, Pizza Hut's "235-35-35" jingle or the Telly Tubbies, Hi-Five or the Sesame Street for kids.
iii) The Power of Context - Epidemics are strongly influenced by their situations - by the circumstances, conditions and particulars of the environments in which they operate. Even the smallest and subtlest and most unexpected of factors can affect the way we act. The key to getting people to change their behavior, in other words, to care, sometimes lies with the smallest details of their immediate situation.
For example, in a robbery case in a certain neighbourhood, the alarm may ring loud and strong in the middle of the night, but being in a neighbourhood of perhaps a few hundred people, the robbery may go neglected as everyone might be thinking that "Oh, one of the others will contact the police...".
Main casts:
There are usually 3 types of protagonists in the Law of the Few.
i) Connectors - People with a special gift for bringing the World together, people who knows alot of people, has alot of networks AND has the ability to connect and introduce one party to another in a relevant context. They usually have a extraordinary knack of making friends and acquaintances.
ii) Mavens - People with the power to spark word-of-mouth epidemics because they are influential. Mavens are people who accumulates knowledge and information and are more socially motivated to share their knows with the people around them. Their main motivation lies in the want to help and educate.
iii) Salesmen -People with persuasive powers.
Summary: Mavens provide the information, connectors are social glue and salesmen basically do what they do best, sell.
Most importantly as well, intuitions should be heard AND tested for human beings are intuitive creatures.
And there you have it... the big picture... don't you wonder if these are factors which makes the apple and the tick globally renown???
Interesting... isn't it?
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