Every now and then, I read a book and say to myself, this explains a lot! Contagious is one of those books. I presented my synopsis of this terrific book last Friday at the August, 2013 First Friday Book Synopsis. It did explain a lot.
This book explains, in genuinely understandable “that makes sense” ways, why some companies/restaurants/products spread like a virus — become contagious. And, it comes close to providing a formula for making something contagious. Businesses want folks to pay them for their product of service. This book provides genuine help for that pursuit.
(By the way, Bob Morris just posted an interview with Jonah Berger on our blog. Click here for his interview).
Jonah Berger is a master story teller. (I think Malcolm Gladwell deserves quite a bit of the credit for raising a cadre of writers who want to tell stories in compelling ways). And, in this book, he is trying to advance a conversation that was jumpstarted by Malcolm Gladwell, and continued by the brothers Heath:
This book/author pays much tribute to Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point. But, the science has advanced since The Tipping Point . And this book/author pays much tribute to Made to Stick, Chip Heath & Dan Heath. But the Heath brothers focus on messages which stick, not “spread…”
Here are a couple of quotes from the book (my synopsis handout has six pages of excerpts/quotes…):
Word-of-mouth marketing is effective only if people actually talk.
Just like the clothes we wear and the cars we drive, what we talk about influences how others see us. It’s social currency. Knowing about cool things—like a blender that can tear through an iPhone—makes people seem sharp and in the know. To get people talking we need to craft messages that help them achieve these desired impressions.
The heart of the book, the “formula” for becoming contagious, is found in the Six STEPPS to becoming/being contagious:
| STEPPS | |
| SOCIAL CURRENCY | We share things that make us look good. |
| TRIGGERS | Top of mind, tip of tongue. |
| EMOTION | When we care, we share. |
| PUBLIC | Built to show, built to grow. |
| PRACTICAL VALUE | News you can use. |
| STORIES | Information travels under the guise of idle chatter. |
And here are my five takeaways:
#1 – People like to be viewed as cool, on top of things, in the know. Good stories, good recommendations, help them attain such status.
#2 – Everybody wants to rise up to a higher rung on the hierarchy. (Read Kenneth Burke’s definition of human – “goaded by the spirit of hierarchy”). Being the go-to-person for information on what to read, where to shop, where/what to buy – getting good at “spreading the right stuff” helps one rise up the hierarchy.
#3 – Any physiological arousal (like, exercising – especially walking “together” – e.g., a work group at the office…) “induces sharing.”
#4 – A product, service, story has to beckon emotion — the right emotions.
#5 – Make your product or service very, very visible – and, find the right triggers.
And here’s a suggestion: download the one-page graphic “summary” of the Six STEPPS from Jonah Berger’s web site: jonahberger.com. It’s much cooler looking than my table in this post.
This is a good book. If you want your business to grow, put this one on your reading list!
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My synopsis of Contagious, with my multi-page comprehensive handout, and the audio of my presentation, will be available soon on our companion site, 15minutebusinessbooks.com.
First Friday Book Synopsis 