The Tipping Point and Humans

SO, when I read The Tipping Point, my mind automatically went to the places of social media, and many of the principles I am semi-obsessed with that concern the forming of online communities and the voices/power that those communities hold. I particularly think that The Three Rules of Epidemics apply to the social world. But more importantly, I think that there are many comparable ideas in the theory of Human 1.0, which explains that modern business practices force humans to act in inherently unnatural ways, and that the Internet has allowed consumers in the present day to form tribes, just as our ancestors did. Subsequently, business practices have changed, and managers, not only of for profit companies, but also of non-profits, would be wise to take note.

Understanding some of the following comparable principles will help the next generation of arts managers (and current generation, if they’re smart) to understand their constituents, communicate in a reciprocal manner with them, and use communities to their advantage in terms of spreading the word and “marketing” (whatever that word means these days).

The Tipping Point	Human 1.0
Connectors: People who have lots of in lots of places. They can make connections happen that might never have happened without their existence in multiple realms. (The CEO who is a closet artist and only drinks in dive bars).	Communication is now many-to-many, not one-to-one. Instead of being the sole purveyor of information, we can identify people like connectors, develop relationships with them, and disseminate information to their various tribes.
Mavens: People who like to help other people by making them informed. (That’s me. I get this great joy from leaving restaurant reviews on Urban Spoon. ALL THE TIME. I’m always honest.)	Tribes are based on social contracts. So the maven in the tribe will not endorse any sort of product, show, whatever, within the tribe if it’s sub-par. However, if the show is super, she’ll be SURE to spread the word, and to spread it with her crew FIRST, or else she’s breaking the contract.
Salesmen: People that are persuasive.	This is the chief. Duh. But also influencers. Influencers not only have a lot of connections, they have GOOD connections. They talk and people listen. You want to be friends with these people.

I’ve broken these things down into extremely simplistic terms, but I think that understanding the most basic social interactions of these tribes is [part of] the future of marketing. Identifying who the connectors, mavens, and salesmen are, and figuring out how they can communicate with their tribes, crews, flocks, whatevs is really important. Your own constituents can be one of your greatest tools.

People no longer listen to organizations who declare that you want and need their product. The likes of Nestle and Domino’s have been brought down off their pedestals by The Man, and are now focused on interacting with customers in a more bottom-up manner.

I hope I make sense here. I get all excited about this stuff, and information just starts spewing out of me unintelligibly. I don’t have any specific questions, but please do share your thoughts. Agree, disagree, respond away.