The Tipping Point should serve as a PR Bible for PR practitioner's. The book highlights the starting and take off points for any product or trend. Malcolm Gladwell does an excellent job at breaking down the science of "The Tipping Point." In the book Gladwell uses the word epidemic to provide a metaphor for the tipping point. No one knows why something takes off or how it happens but the impact is known. Gladwell provides three factors that every trend possess; the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. Gladwell also pinpoints three people that help to "sell " the trend; Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen. If any PR campaign posses those three people it is sure to succeed according to Gladwell.
One of the examples provided in the book was the epidemic of the Hush Puppy shoes. Hush Puppies were on their way of being out of style and extinct, until some New York city kids begin to wear them. What started out with a few kids trying to be different, turned into a rebirth of a classic. Hush Puppies became the "it" fashion for ever designer's line.
It is important for a PR practitioner to remember that the "tipping point" serves as the catalyst for a major move in an idea, theory, or product.
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Public Relations Theories and ideas from a student perspective.
