Unleashing the Ideavirus

Unleashing the Ideavirus
32
 www.ideavirus.com
Here’s a schematic of typical word of mouth. Notice how few cycles there are, and how it drops off
over time.
Here’s an ideal ideavirus. Note how much more frequently the cycles occur, and how each cycle sees
the virus grow.
With an ideavirus, both principles no longer apply. Ideaviruses spread fast and they spread
far. With word of mouse (word of mouth augmented by the power of online
communication), you can tell 100 friends, or a thousand friends. Because the numbers are
larger and faster, the virus grows instead of slows.
Even before the Net, there were special cases of viruses. In traditional word of mouth in the
book business, someone reads a book and tells a friend. It’s nice, but it’s not usually enough.
The Bridges of Madison County
, however, became the bestselling novel of the decade, because
booksellers
adopted it and told people. As a bookseller, you’ve got exposure not just to a few
people, but hundreds of people. So the serendipitous word of mouth that helps some books
is replaced by a rapid, virulent alternative.

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Unleashing the Ideavirus
33
 www.ideavirus.com
On the other hand, most Americans have never had a massage from a professional masseuse.
Why? Because in order to understand the power of a massage, you have to get one. We don’t
currently have the word or picture tools to adequately describe the positive benefits of a
massage, and just as important, there isn’t a powerful spokesperson for massage who has
spent the time and energy to develop the ideavirus. There’s no real medium to transmit the
message. So the message travels slowly. So there is no virus around the idea of a massage.

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