Page 277 - (DK) The Business Book

SUCCESSFUL SELLING 275

See also: Understanding the market 234–41 ■ Creating a brand 258–63 ■ Memes and imitation
Why advertise? 272–73 ■ Benchmarking 330–31
In 1976 evolutionary biologist
Richard Dawkins put forward
From a single user sharing the theory that, just as genes
images or opinions with friends,
and those friends passing the data are responsible for replicating
to their friends, with modern physical characteristics,
technology ideas can spread @ cultural information such as
rapidly and ultimately reach ideas, behavior, or style, can
millions of users. also be transferred from
person to person. Dawkins
referred to this cultural data
as “memes.” These memes,
like genes, can spread, mutate,
or die out in society. As
Dawkins describes it, “Just as
genes propagate themselves
@ in the gene pool by leaping
from body to body via sperm
or eggs, so memes propagate
themselves in the meme
pool by leaping from brain
to brain via a process which,
pictures and videos online, so Kick-starting the process in the broad sense, can be
information is easily spread. Marketers can mimic this process called imitation.”
Tactics to manipulate this trend by encouraging customers or Marketers have applied the
include guerrilla marketing, which influential members of online theory to online behavior. An
uses low-cost unconventional communities to kick-start the Internet meme can be a photo,
methods with a surprise element imitation process and become image, video, website, word, or
to provoke comment, and viral “brand champions,” sometimes by symbol, which originates from
marketing, which typically employs offering incentives in return for a single user or group of users
social media to spread a brand- reviews and recommendations. and builds momentum when it
is imitated by other Internet
sponsored video, or encourages Industries in which trends are
users. By piggybacking on
influential bloggers and others to paramount for success are at the
existing memes, brands can
recommend products. forefront of WOMM online. Fashion
gain massive exposure for
In The Tipping Point (2000), e-tailer ASOS utilizes Twitter and
relatively little cost.
British social commentator Malcolm Facebook to propagate customer
Gladwell outlines the power of recommendations and provide
social epidemics and how the entertainment. In its 2011 “Urban
smallest impetus can trigger a Tour” campaign, ASOS marketers
mass phenomenon. According to created videos showcasing the
Gladwell, the title of his book refers world’s best street dancers and
to a “magic moment when an idea, in-line skaters. The videos enabled
trend, or social behavior crosses click-through shopping and were Today, the potential to
a threshold, tips, and spreads like platform-neutral to ease their persuade is in the hands
wildfire.” This describes modern spread on social-media channels. of millions...
“word-of-mouth” marketing, Sneaker brand Nike has been at B. J. Fogg
though it originates in broader the forefront of the trend, producing
US behavioral scientist
ideas about how ideas replicate videos with enough “wow” factor to
in human culture. As Gladwell send them viral. The two-minute
explains, “ideas and products ... “Touch of Gold” video (2008) featured
messages and behaviors spread soccer player Ronaldinho showing
just like viruses do.” off his skills wearing Nike cleats. ■