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TIPPING POINTS

TIPPING POINTS. Viral Marketing . Malcolm Gladwell’s best seller. Thomas Schelling (Nobel Prize winner) first introduced the concept of “tipping points” in 1972 Malcolm Gladwell popularized the concept in his best seller . Downside of traditional marketing/advertising. Cost:

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TIPPING POINTS

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  1. TIPPING POINTS Viral Marketing

  2. Malcolm Gladwell’s best seller • Thomas Schelling (Nobel Prize winner) first introduced the concept of “tipping points” in 1972 • Malcolm Gladwell popularized the concept in his best seller

  3. Downside of traditional marketing/advertising • Cost: • TV and print ads are expensive • Media clutter: • It is difficult for products to stand out against the background of advertising • Cynicism: • Consumers, especially Gen X and Gen Y consumers, are jaded and cynical about “obvious” marketing • TIVO, DVRs: • Consumers can avoid TV commercials altogether • Segmentation: • Consumers aren’t heterogeneous, they are segmented into different markets

  4. Viral Marketing • Steve Jurvetson and Tim Draper coined the term “viral marketing” in 1997. • a.k.a. below the radar marketing, buzz marketing, stealth advertising • Relies on word-of-mouth (WOM) endorsements • like a virus, word about a product or service spreads from one consumer to another

  5. Examples, intentional and unintentional • Live Strong bracelets (and the whole wrist band craze) • Ipods, Iphones • accessory dogs • “Support Our Troops” stickers • Juicy Couture handbags • Hip Hop (culture as a commodity)

  6. More examples of buzz gone wild • Pinkberry • Razor scooters • Harry Potter books • Wii Fit • YouTube • MySpace, Facebook • Blogs, blogging, the blogosphere

  7. Poseurs: “ordinary person at a bar, in line at a concert, at a soccer field Sony Ericcson hired 120 actors and actresses to play tourists at popular attractions around the country.The “tourists” asked passersby to take their picture with a T68i cell phone that featured a digital camera Trendsetters and early adopters Use of “cool hunters” and “trend spotters” Imitation, social modeling yellow magnetic ribbons saying “Support the Troops” Email, chat rooms, and blogs Manufactured controversies: Ambercrombie & Fitch sold thong underwear in children’s sizes, with the words “eye candy” printed on the front Methods and techniques

  8. Malcolm Gladwell’s notion of “Tipping Points” • Tipping point: • the threshold or critical point at which an idea, product, or message takes off or reaches critical mass. • Viral theory of marketing: • ideas and messages can be contagious just like diseases • The law of the few • It doesn’t take large numbers of people to generate a trend • A select few enjoy a disproportionate amount of influence over the spread of social trends

  9. Tipping points--continued • The stickiness factor • idea, message, or product has to be “sticky” or inherently attractive • idea must be memorable, practical, personal, novel • hard to manufacture this feature • Power of context • must happen at the right time, place • for example, social networking (MySpace, Facebook) wouldn’t be possible without widespread access to the Internet • rule of 150: Groups grow too large and loose cohesion at 150

  10. Key influencers • Connectors: know everybody, are networkers, have many contacts • “Connectors are social glue: they spread it.” (Gladwell) • Have large social circles • Mavens: possess information, expertise, and seek to share it • “Mavens are data banks. They provide the message” (Gladwell) • Are “in the know” • Salesman: are persuasive • Charismatic types • Often rely on “soft” influence • Note: All three types are needed for a phenomenon to take-off

  11. Other concerns • Scalability: message must be able to go from very small to very large without “gearing up.” • Wii couldn’t ramp up manufacturing and lost millions in sales. • Effortless transfer: message must be passed on for free, or nearly free, or “coast” on existing networks.

  12. Not that scientific evidence is largely anecdotal phenomenon isn’t that reliable, predictable A bit of a “finger in the wind” approach to marketing viral marketing” is something of an oxymoron. The more viral marketing is planned or contrived, the less likely it is to succeed; Momentum may not reach the tipping point no guarantee the initial “buzz” will become contagious. difficult to orchestrate word of mouth Trends come and go quickly like a contagion, a trend can die out quickly or be replaced by a new trend The downside

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