5. And finally Seth Godin’s ‘Unleashing the Ideasvirus’

Godin published this book in 2001 – effectively a model for building a customer base in the world of new media opportunities. Word-of-mouth has always been important and been able to create rapid growth of awareness, but in the internet age this can be exponential. If the idea is right it will be taken up and can spread like a virus.

More traditional marketing theory (e.g. Everett Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations Theory) identified Innovators, Early Adopters, the Early Majority, the Late Majority and Laggards, reflecting different sections of the population defined by their attitudes to trying new products and services.

Godin believes that, although Innovators are important, these people are often seen as extremists and not often highly regarded by the largest parts of the market, usually the Early and Late Majorities. He believes things really start to take off when the Early Adopters start to buy-in to the concept.

Why is this group so important? The Early Adopters are not on the fringes, part of the extreme or oddball groups of individuals who are the Innovators. They are part of the mainstream, but the leaders of fashion within that mainstream. They are generally looked up to by their peers as the people who find the next new trend first. And this equally applies whether we are talking about the middle class suburbs or amongst the street gangs, whether we are talking about City traders or street market traders.

A subdivision of this group are the people that Godin calls the ‘ideavirus sneezers’ – they are Early Adopters who are also very conscious of their role as opinion or fashion leaders and who promote the new idea they believe in to all their contacts.

You can see how the medical analogy is relevant here. Not everyone who has the disease passes it on, just as not everyone who likes your product actively promotes it. That’s one reason why Godin in ‘The Purple Cow’ encourages you to get e-mail addresses particularly of those who clearly love your product: the stronger they express that view, the more they are likely to spread the word. You can’t be sure they will promote it but the ‘contagious ones’ are much more likely to be found here.