You might have seen the video shot at the Sasquatch Music Festival in Washington state—footage of a young man as he dances wildly by himself to the strains of Santogold's "Unstoppable."
He's clearly having a good time while bemused onlookers watch the spectacle. After a while, a second concertgoer joins him, and the two dance together with equal enthusiasm. So far, though, they look more dorky than cool.
Around the one-minute mark, however, a third guy appears on the scene. Despite using the same awkward dance moves, he transforms the scene into something people want to join. Within seconds, two more guys join in. Then there are three more. And then another few. This prompts a stream of people, all racing toward a dance party that, less than a minute earlier, looked almost tragic.
Seth Godin notes the importance of the third dancer. "Before him, it was just a crazy dancing guy and then maybe one other crazy guy," says Godin in a post at his blog. "But it's guy #3 who made it a movement."
Your Marketing Inspiration is to look for more guy #3s. "Initiators are rare indeed," Godin notes, "but it's scary to be the leader. Guy #3 is rare too, but it's a lot less scary and just as important. Guy #49 is irrelevant. No bravery points for being part of the mob."
More Inspiration:
Ann Handley: B2B According to Me: The Winners
Matthew Grant: You Don't Need Fans, You Need Junkies
Jacob Morgan: Social-Media ROI? What About Marketing Accountability?
by Christina "CK" Kerley
Comments
by Ellie Mon Jul 13, 2009
The Tipping Point by Gladwell is an excellent book that talks exactly about this. It's an examination of the social epidemics that produce this kind of reaction..