The Tipping Point

The Tipping Point- Malcolm Gladwell

At first on reading The Tipping Point, I was unsure as to what I was actually going to gain from the Book. Gladwell at times can almost become quite tedious in his way of repeating a point over and over again. I guess this is just his way of making these points stick.

Throughout the book there are interesting examples of various factors which add to or make a Tipping Point. In particular interesting parts for me include, Kitty Genovese and the 0/38 coming to her rescue, Mark Alpert the honest and knowledgeable Mavern, the rule of 150 and the failure and success of Sesame Street/Blue's Clues.

Taking the chapter: The Stickiness Factor- Sesame Street, Blue's Clues and the Educational Virus, I expanded the various themes into a detailed Mind Map. It is interesting to know that television programmes such as Sesame Street and Blue's Clues are not simply thrown together in a random way but are carefully thought and tested before airing. Through testing these programmes on children, researchers can understand which areas of the programme children enjoy find too confusing or keep them engaged. There is not simply one designer/scriptwriter/director for these programmes, but there are in fact many multiples of designers/scriptwriters/directors. These are the children that the test the programmes on. There appears to be a lot more going on behind the scenes than a man dressed as a yellow bird or a host who has a tendency to take long pauses. Each and every aspect of these programmes has been designed to look, sound and come across in a specific way.

A successful way to make something Stick is to EMPHASISE certain parts or to repeat, repeat, repeat. A successful way to make something Stick is to EMPHASISE certain parts or to repeat, repeat, repeat. A successful way to make something Stick is to EMPHASISE certain parts or to repeat, repeat, repeat.

Emphasis and repetition can both work well in Children’s educational programmes, the same episode of Blue’s Clues was repeated every day for 5 days, but they are equally as important in advertising. From Wunderman’s use of the Gold Box to the unsuccessful Olympic sponsorship of Coca Cola advertising is ever important in our life. I find it fascinating that the average American see around 25 4 different commercial daily, imagine how many times they see the same advert in a day. That is a lot of repetition.

Overall my opinion of the book has changed from how I felt at the start, I now realise how important small changes are or how they in turn can make a big change. I also now understand how much research and thought goes into various things like Sesame Street or cleaning up the Subway. Through Mind Mapping my understanding of the book developed and I am positive that my knowledge will continue to develop as I re-read the book.

The Stickiness Factor- Sesame Street, Blue's clues and the Educational Virus