What Is the Law of the Few

Another crucial factor that plays a key role in determining whether a trend will reach exponential popularity is what Gladwell calls the “viscosity factor.” This is a unique quality that forces the phenomenon to “stick” in the public mind and influence its future behavior. Mavens – These are the people whose purpose may be to help others. They hold information and are always willing to share what they know. Coupled with their knowledge and social skills, they communicate very well. A good PR agency is indeed a Maven. They include the customer, industry, government AND the media. You will know exactly what to present where and how exactly. To capture the essence of the entire book in a few paragraphs would do the book an injustice. But to understand what sets certain people/organizations apart and exerts enormous influence in the industry, the law of the few will be a good place to start. Sellers – We know all too well the role of salespeople in our lives. But the book explains that there are people who carry the seller`s thing inside them without actually “selling” a product. They possess charm, charisma and an appearance that goes beyond what they say. They have the power to convince us of things when we don`t know what “tips” them into word-of-mouth epidemics.

Another crucial aspect of the complex processes and mechanisms that shift trends toward mass popularity is what Gladwell calls the power of context. If the environment or historical moment when a trend is introduced is not correct, it is unlikely that the tipping point will be reached. To illustrate the power of context, Gladwell picks up on the strangely rapid decline in violent crime rates that occurred in New York City in the 1990s. A theory similar to Gladwell`s “Law of Small Numbers” appears in Kurt Vonnegut`s Bluebeard (1987). In Bluebeard, Chapter 24, Paul Slazinger works on his first non-fiction book, “The Only Way to Have a Successful Revolution in Every Area of Human Activity.” Specifically, Vonnegut`s character describes 1987: “The team must be composed of three types of specialists,” he says. Otherwise, the revolution, whether in politics, the arts, the sciences or elsewhere, will surely fail. The rarest of these specialists, he says, is a genuine genius — a person who is able to seemingly have good ideas that aren`t common. “A genius who works alone,” he says, “is invariably ignored like crazy. The second type of specialist is much easier to find; A very intelligent and reputable citizen in his community, who understands and admires the fresh ideas of genius and who testifies that genius is anything but crazy. “Such a person who works alone,” says Slazinger, “can only cry out loud for change, but cannot say how he should be trained.” The third type of specialist is a person who can explain everything, no matter how complicated, to the satisfaction of most people, no matter how stupid or stubborn.

“He`ll say almost anything to be interesting and exciting,” Slazinger says. “Working alone, dependent only on his own superficial ideas, he would be considered as full of as a Christmas turkey.” The tipping point does not refer to Vonnegut`s Bluebeard. Connectors – They have the special ability to bring the world together. In a fascinating experiment Gladwell talks about, 160 packages were distributed to as many random people in Omaha. These individuals were asked to ensure that packages reached a single stockbroker in Boston through their contacts. Mind you, this was before the advent of Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. While most of them had assumed that it would take about a hundred steps to get the package to the stockbroker, they actually only needed five to six steps. Indeed, in all cases, the stockbroker was contacted by only one person at the last stage. Extrapolate this to your PR strategy and see what kind of benefit you would buy if you had such “connectors” in your network or team.

Gladwell begins by discussing the inexplicable resurgence of Hush Puppies shoes then uncool among a handful of hipsters in the ultra-modern enclaves of Manhattan in the 1990s, a trend that quickly spread across the United States and led to an exponential increase in the company`s sales. Using this phenomenon as an introduction to the analytical theme of the book, the author explains that it will identify, dissect and explain the mechanisms by which some tendencies prevail while others fail. Malcolm Gladwell`s book, The Tipping Point, offered readers a groundbreaking analysis of how trends are triggered and set in, and became an example of the very processes he described. After its publication in 2000, the book became a national bestseller whose influence helped usher in paradigm shifts in fields ranging from marketing to public health. These special people fall into three personality types that make them exceptional in their social relationships, knowledge or persuasive ability. After identifying and describing these key concepts, Gladwell devotes the rest of the book to illustrating these concepts and their interconnectedness in a series of compelling case studies and examples. An afterword included in the latest edition of the book updates some of Gladwell`s arguments for a more relevant application in an age of widespread internet connectivity. Gladwell defines adhesion factor as quality that requires people to pay significant and sustained attention to a product, concept or idea. Adhesion is difficult to define, and its presence or absence is often highly context-dependent. Often the way the adhesion factor is created is unconventional, unexpected and contradicts received wisdom. While Gladwell acknowledges that a variety of complex factors and variables likely played a role in triggering the decline, he argues persuasively that it was minor but influential changes in the city`s surroundings that allowed these factors to lead to a significant reduction in crime.

An interesting element of adhesion, as defined by Gladwell, is the fact that it is often counterintuitive or contradicts conventional wisdom. To illustrate this point, Gladwell conducted an in-depth discussion of the development of children`s television between the 1960s and 2000s. Salespeople are the people who throw the idea or message behind an outbreak and convince people to jump on board. They don`t just store and share information; Sellers want to convince you to follow their advice. Behavioral psychologist Donald Moine has studied the belief extensively, claiming that a great salesperson is armed with more and better answers to potential customers` objections. Sellers contribute to the law of a few. The book isn`t superficially dedicated to PR professionals, but there are so many things that marketing and communications professionals can tap into. The tipping point essentially explores the concept that “ideas, products, and messages spread like viruses” once they reach a moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point. As soon as they take off, nothing stops them from their dream race. So how do they actually get to this “tipping point”? In this case study chapter, Gladwell discusses the rise and fall of walking shoes.

The brand originally targeted the skateboarding subculture of Southern California, but attempted to overcome this niche market and gain national recognition. They did this with the help of an advertising agency with a unique understanding of the factors and variables that influence the public`s perception of “coolness.” The marketing campaign ruthlessly refined and used several contemporary avatars of coolitude, such as Tibetan Buddhism, Pachuco gang culture, and the ironic adoption of preppy culture by hipsters, making Airwalk shoes cool by association. In the newly written epilogue to The Tipping Point, Gladwell updates a number of case studies and anecdotes proposed in the original text with new data.