As the Internet tips.....

I've been reading this book that’s really captivated me. Bear with me if this is old news to you because it was published in 2000, but it's rocking my world today. The book is "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. The thing that's got me hooked is the idea that even the tiniest alteration in a product, idea, or just about anything, can spark cataclysmic changes. The word the author uses for this type of change is "epidemic." 

The example he talks about is old school Hush Puppies, a classic brand that was distressed in the early 90's. If you recall, they were pretty ugly.  Sales had flat lined, and they were only selling 30,000 pairs to mom and pop shops around the US. They were definitely on their way out. Then the strangest thing happened. A small group of young New Yorkers, some suggest only around 20, began to wear them around Manhattan. No one knows why. Maybe they wanted to be different, or they just wanted a comfy, cheap shoe. Within a year, Hush Puppies sold 430,000 pairs of shoes, was featured in many Manhattan boutiques, and even found their way onto the runway. By 1995 Hush Puppies was named the fashion accessory of the year.

So, what do mid 90's Hush Puppies have to do with the current state of the internet advertising? It reminds us that small, almost invisible changes can have incredible effects. Like re-focusing on the simple, Marketing 101 theme - playing the right message at the right time to the right person. I know, internet advertising companies have been talking about, and claiming to do this for over 10 years. Sure, many technological advances have moved us down that path, but the truth is, now we can actually do it.  Just recently, we've seen TruEffect's newest technology start epidemics for our clients. They're seeing things in the online campaigns that they never thought possible, and using that information to speak directly to their customers. Maybe internet advertising just reached a tipping point. 

– Brian Murphy

Comments

[Anon]

very insightful, Brian, but the idea is a little dated. If you are interested in the idea of small events changing large scale systems...and a pretty entertaining read, check out Nassim Nicholas Taleb's, The Black Swan.