Seth Godin - Spreading Ideas Summary

Here is a quick summary of Seth Godin's great TED video about spreading ideas.

Summary

• For 15 years, people ignored sliced bread until someone found out how to spread the idea
• Idea diffusion is a central concept in this century
• Television advertising was been the main way to diffuse ideas and products
• But, too much choice + not enough time → led people to ignore stuff
• Hence, a product has to be remarkable for people to talk about it
• Marketers make average products for average people ("The center is the big market")
• They ignore early adopters and innovators on the left of the bell curve
• Seth Godin: average people ignore your average product, innovators and early adopters care
• Innovators and early adopters are obsessed about something (otaku)
• If you don't have an otaku constituency for a product, it won't work
• Hot Sauce is otaku, Mustard is not otaku
• Sell to people who are listening, and may be they'll tell their friends
• Does your customer have otaku? Is your product remarkable?
• Design is key and critical to make remarkable products
• Being very good is ≠ remarkable, people will not notice it
• Figure out who does care and sell to them