Blogging, Vlogging and Podcasting for Good
Networks and the tipping point
How could it happen, that late at night on the 9th of november 1989 a huge crowd got together to protest against the Belin Wall? Remember, there was no such thing as mobile phones, the internet wasn't available and you can be sure they didn't use any classical advertisement. The answer is simple word of mouth.
Networks
If you develop a message that should reach a certain group of people, you have to start thinking about networks. It's no longer a "target group" because you don't always know who's part of the network and who has a connection to whom. Think about all the people you know, you have met and you have talked to. Could any market research tell what kind of people those are?
"Real world" networks are invisible quite often while online networks tend to be more transparent. You also have to differentiate bewteen "strong" networks and "weak" networks. A strong network would be your work (you see them every day), your friends (you talk a lot), etc. People you see every now and then or you just meet them in a bar once belong to your weak network. The art is spread the message in both, just do your very personal blend.
Malcolm Gladwell wrote in his book the tipping point that there is a point where a message in networks kind of goes mainstream. It's the point that makes a good book a bestseller, a successful brand a champoin and the point that saves good nonprofit campaign a spot in the history books.
An interesting thing to know about important networks is something called "hubs". These are people who really enjoy talking to many people, they are opinion leaders and they are quite likely to pass on your message as well. Acording to Ducan Watts these hubs are not as important but I think that it always depends on the network and the message.
And how does that fit in with advertisement and communication strategies? Well, just compare a campaign everyone speaks about to some other campaign that never got significant attention. You'll find that the budget is not the differnce - the important thing is wheather the developers thought about social networks and the word of mouth when creating the campaign. Is the slogan and the key message easy enough to quickly tell someone about it? Can everyone share the campaign online with just one click? Is it outstanding enough or just what everyone else does as well?
you can check out my blog on advertisement and communication for non-profit campaigners at http://advertising-hints.blogspot.com
Networks
If you develop a message that should reach a certain group of people, you have to start thinking about networks. It's no longer a "target group" because you don't always know who's part of the network and who has a connection to whom. Think about all the people you know, you have met and you have talked to. Could any market research tell what kind of people those are?
"Real world" networks are invisible quite often while online networks tend to be more transparent. You also have to differentiate bewteen "strong" networks and "weak" networks. A strong network would be your work (you see them every day), your friends (you talk a lot), etc. People you see every now and then or you just meet them in a bar once belong to your weak network. The art is spread the message in both, just do your very personal blend.
Malcolm Gladwell wrote in his book the tipping point that there is a point where a message in networks kind of goes mainstream. It's the point that makes a good book a bestseller, a successful brand a champoin and the point that saves good nonprofit campaign a spot in the history books.
An interesting thing to know about important networks is something called "hubs". These are people who really enjoy talking to many people, they are opinion leaders and they are quite likely to pass on your message as well. Acording to Ducan Watts these hubs are not as important but I think that it always depends on the network and the message.
And how does that fit in with advertisement and communication strategies? Well, just compare a campaign everyone speaks about to some other campaign that never got significant attention. You'll find that the budget is not the differnce - the important thing is wheather the developers thought about social networks and the word of mouth when creating the campaign. Is the slogan and the key message easy enough to quickly tell someone about it? Can everyone share the campaign online with just one click? Is it outstanding enough or just what everyone else does as well?
you can check out my blog on advertisement and communication for non-profit campaigners at http://advertising-hints.blogspot.com
Comment
About
© 2009 Created by Britt Bravo on Ning. Create a Ning Network!
You need to be a member of Changeblogger Network to add comments!
Join this Ning Network