The Tipping Point and Public Relations

The Tipping Point: How does it relate to PR?
By: Chelsea S. Matthews

The Tipping Point, according to Malcolm Gladwell, is the birth of an idea. It is when a trend or idea can spread like fire. The possibility of sudden change is the core of the tipping point. It’s the boiling point of an idea. Public relations can be interpreted as publicity that spreads like fire. One of the goals of public relations is to relay a message to various audiences in a strategic way to gain contagious attention.

The tipping point describes three types of people who contribute to the actual concept. They are called connectors, mavens and salesmen.

The connectors play a huge role in PR. “Connectors are special people that bring the world together” (Gladwell 38). These are people who know a lot of other people. If I am launching a new restaurant and the right person likes it, he or she will tell a lot of people who will tell more people. This will result in free publicity for a PR client. This chain leads to a tipping point from word of mouth publicity.

Mavens are people who are knowledgeable on a variety of topics. "Mavens are those who accumulate knowledge”(Gladwell 60). They are familiar with prices and quality. These are your researchers and information experts in the PR world. Becoming knowledgeable about your client, their competitors and other significant variables is important. PR practitioners know that every situation they analyze begins with research and ends with evaluation.

The salesmen have enthusiasm, charm and likability. The parallel between the salesmen and PR is persuasion. Through all of these traits, the main goal is to persuade the public or just one person to believe in you and or your product. “Salesmen persuade us to take some type of action when we are unconvinced of what we are hearing, and they are as critical to the tipping point of word of mouth epidemics as the other two groups” (Gladwell 70). Once you persuade someone to agree with you, it’s easy to get them to think a certain way or believe in a particular service.


References & Supportive Readings
10 patterns of success in Public Relations http://www.heymanassociates.com/Spotlight/WCH_Univ_Alabama_Research_Report-06_2004.htm

Tipping Point Media

http://www.tippingpointmedia.com

Gladwell, M. (2002). The Tipping Point: How little things can make a big difference. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

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