The Tipping Point Challenged

I've never read the book The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, but I do know that it posits the theory that if you can get a few key influential people on the bandwagon for your product or service, then they will kick off a trend that will result in a tidal wave of business, ensuring success. Well, there's now a new theory out that says that this is a bunch of bologna. A quick quote from the article:

(...) According to MarketingVOX, an online marketing news journal, more than $1 billion is spent a year on word-of-mouth campaigns targeting Influentials, an amount growing at 36% a year, faster than any other part of marketing and advertising. That's on top of billions more in PR and ads leveled at the cognoscenti.

Yet, if you believe Watts, all that money and effort is being wasted. Because according to him, Influentials have no such effect. Indeed, they have no special role in trends at all.

Check out the whole story over on the Fast Company web site at:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/is-the-tipping-point-toast.html