Accelerating Natural Contagion

Brandweek, Oct 30, 2000

Other Ways to Accelerate Natural Contagion

In addition to actively leapfrogging, companies that accelerate buzz also work to create the conditions that make shortcuts more likely to happen. One way is to create environments where customers can meet people who are not customers from remote networks. Suppose, for example, that your company sells e-commerce solutions. Putting together a series of seminars on the topic for noncustomers, and then inviting champion users to tell how they use your product out in the field, creates perfect conditions for buzz to leap from cluster to cluster. The Internet offers significant opportunities to stimulate interaction between customers and noncustomers. Many companies have created forums on the Net where users and nonusers can meet, share experiences, and discuss ways the product can be used.

Another tactic is to hang out in the "dense areas" of the networks. There is a lot of randomness in the networks. Shortcuts often happen by chance, and you increase the chances of these shortcuts happening to you by being out there, especially in the densest areas of the networks, like trade shows and other industry events. Everyone is already there; you just need to make sure that they talk about your product. Experienced pr people know how to create shortcuts across a cocktail party. A good public relations professional can gracefully grab Person A and escort him all the way to the other end of the hall to meet Person B at an industry event, personally creating a shortcut.

Hiring practices can also be used to accelerate contagion in certain social networks. Companies that hire young employees have a better chance of linking into networks of youthful people. Companies that hire Hispanics help link into networks of Spanish-speaking individuals. It's part of the way Union Bank of California has grown. "Walk into a branch in a Latino area and you'll see lots of personnel who are Latino," vice chairman Rick Hartnack told Fortune magazine. Hiring people from diverse backgrounds--54% of Union Bank's employees are minorities--has given the bank an opportunity to spread its message into a variety of networks, a strategy that seems to have paid off in the stock market. The bank's stock "has appreciated at a 34% compound annual rate for the past five years," Fortune noted in 1999.

Leapfrogging is not easy, but to create buzz you almost always have to leapfrog to unfamiliar networks. Jim Callahan of The Dohring Co., a marketing research firm in the automotive industry, says, "There is a misconception that if a dealership gives good service it would automatically get good word of mouth. What we have found is that the dealerships that make a conscious effort to promote word of mouth are the ones that are most successful in getting word of mouth."

The third part of this book describes leapfrogging and some other strategies and tactics (such as viral marketing and publicity events) designed to accelerate the natural process. The techniques vary and will continue to change as new technologies evolve. But whatever the technique used, you can be sure that behind almost every good buzz there is someone who understands that success comes not only from having a contagious product but also from speeding the good word about that product to the far reaches of various networks, getting the attention of potential customers before competitors do.