By Malcolm Gladwell

First published by Little Brown & Company 2000

Review by Carol Samms

This is the best book to explain social and marketing phenomena in years. The Tipping Point charts the adoption curve of social and marketing trends. Malcolm Gladwell dissects what happens at each point of the curve and how it is possible to create the “Tipping Point.” Suddenly, the development of communities of interest makes sense- for marketers this understanding will be critical. The author outlines some fundamental concepts to the Tipping Point- contagiousness, the fact that little changes cause big effects and thirdly, that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment. “The world of the Tipping Point is a place where the unexpected becomes expected, where radical change is more than a possibility. It is –contrary to all our expectations-a certainty.”

Malcolm Gladwell describes three separate agents of change: the Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor and the Power of Context. Each of these has extraordinary power to move the Tipping Point. In the Law of the Few, Gladwell shows how “Connectors” (those who are highly influential across communities) can literally drive the adoption of specific trends. Word of mouth epidemics are the work of connectors. The Stickiness Factor overturns some of the commonly held concepts of communication. How to make messages “sticky” is important in a cluttered media environment. As the author describes, there is a simple way to package information, that under the right circumstances can make it irresistible. Epidemics are sensitive to the conditions and circumstances of the times and places in which they occur. This is the Power of Context.

The book makes the case that it is not significant factors that have the power to change the Tipping Point. Identifying small alterations in the environment can initiate changes in behaviour. For example, removing the graffiti from the New York subway was one of the Tipping Points in the decline of crime in New York. In the process of adoption, the information path from innovators to early adopters is critical and this is often smoothed or translated by someone fulfilling the role of connector. In fact, Gladwell describes several variants of the connector role.

This book should make marketers re-evaluate their beliefs in how trends occur and the true nature of synchronicity.

By Malcolm Gladwell

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