The Tipping Point

I have to admit that I put off reading "The Tipping Point" for a while, but I found it hard to put down as soon as I opened it. The book opened the doors to many things I have never thought about, but proved to be very effective.

I started thinking about all the trends and new fads that had come about over the past few years. I remember the first time I saw a pair of Crocs because I thought they were the ugliest things in the world, but now I own a pair. I also remember the era of low carb diets, such as ATKINS and The Southbeach Diet, that swept our nation. All of these were ideas that were used by a few and then spread by many. Malcolm Gladwell refers to the spreading of trends as a contagious disease or virus. He states that it is easiest to think of these ideas and trends as epidemics because just as a contagious virus or disease spreads, so do ideas, trends, messages, and behaviorx (9). All it takes is one person.

There are many factors in making an epidemic, and all of them are required to lead to that one dramatic moment. Gladwell uses an example of the Hush Puppy shoes that were going to be discontinued in 1994 because of bad sales (3). The company was only selling about 30,000 pairs a year. Strange enough the company found out the the shoes were a huge hit and becoming a major fashion trend in Manhattan. By the next year, the company sold 430,000 pairs of the classic Hush Puppies and the numbers continued to rise each year (4.) Manhattan, of course, can not take full credit for the sudden urge to buy Hush Puppies, but it was definitely where it started.

Gladwell defines The Tipping Point as that one dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once (9). The world of the Tipping Point is where the unexpected becomes the expected, and where radical change is more than just a possibility (14). Hush Puppies had no expectations of sales rapdily increasing as they did, but it happened. The company learned that this change was no longer just a possibility, but it was reality.

In the book, Gladwell breaks it up into the Three Rules of Epidemics, also known as the Agents of Change.

The Law of Few states that the success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts (33). Gladwell classifys the involvement of people in one of three ways.

Connectors are those who know everyone worth knowing. They are well-known in society and have inside connections with alot of people. Their relationships may not always be a friendly, but simply a business relationship that allows calling in for favors (46).

Mavens are the infortmation specialists. They help and teach others around them what they have learned. They accumulate the knowledge that leads to solving problems (69).

Salesmen are the persuaders. Their charismatic personality contributes to their powerful negotiation skills. They have the ability of gaining peoples trust and selling them an idea(80).

I can see where each one of these roles comes into play because all three are needed for overall success. If I had to place myself into a catagory, I definitely consider myself a Maven. I like having all the information at hand so I can make the best and most rational decision. I don't have a salesman personality, and I definitely do not have as many connections as I would like, but I think I work well with others have have good ideas about how to pass along a message.

The second rule of epidemics is the Stickiness Factor. This means that the specific content of a message needs to make an impact and be memorable. Gladwell uses Sesame Street as an example. Joan Ganz Cooney set out to start an epidemic in the late 1960's. The agent of infection was a television series, and the virus she wanted to spread was literacy (89). Cooney made television sticky because it left its viewers with information that left an impact and was memorable throughout their lifetime. Information that leaves an impact and that will be used later in life will more likely be remembered.

The third and final rule of epidemics is the Power of Context. This focuses and emphasizes on the environment and conditions that influence human behavior and epidemics. Human behavior is very sensitive and epidemics can be affected simply by the time and place in which they occur.

All of what I have learned from Gladwell applies to many of the projects and events that I have worked on throughout my PR carreer this far. We have all become Connectors simply by creating a blog, making active updates and staying connected on twitter, and by utilizing facebook. We have all become Mavens by researching and finding outside information and bringing it to class and sharing to solve the problems at hand. We have all also become salesmen by going out into the community and simply trying to raise awareness and get them involved through donations and participation. As Gladwell said, all three personalities and skills are needed and it is now easy to see, especially in my PR Admin class, who follows which role.

Our current Relay for Life event allows our class to fully utilize these concepts. The Stickiness Factor will play a huge role in raising attendance numbers and getting more teams and team captains involved. Our class needs to find a way to reach out to these people and leave an impact on them. This KickOff Dinner needs to be memorable and something that they will take with them for a lifetime. Human behavior will be very sensitive at this event simply because of the time, place, and theme. But if our class can leave a positive impact on these cancer survivors and their families, I would say it was a success.