I think that something that has tipped recently are those coffee machines that only make one serving. They have been around for a little while now and at first they did not tip. I have been noticing more recently the appearance of the coffeemaker under different brands. This indicates to me that other companies are seeing the usefullness of this product and are copying it. The first brand that I can recalll that was producing this system was the "pod" brand. I notcied these maybe two years ago or so (while working at Target I sometimes see the new product trends). I'm actually not quite sure if that is the bland or just a segment of a larger brand.
The slowness of the rise of this product(in my opinion) can be explaned when looking at the diffussion model. The product was introduced and first only the innovators had caught on. It is said in Gladwell's book that there is a larger gap between the innovators and the early adopters. After the early adopters comes the early majority, the late majority, and then the laggards. At this point in the product's cycle I'd say that the early majority have just recently caught on, which has caused the product to tip.
The product was first being advertised in more upscale magazines. There was a small buzz about the product but not really a huge one. I believe that it was the rumors of the usefullness of the product and the prestige of the product is what has forced the product to tip.
Posted by at November 30, 2005 11:59 PMGreat example. I just saw an episode of The Appentice: Martha Stewart where the teams were tasked with selling the most single serving coffee machines. As you mentioned, "there is a larger gap between the innovators and the early adopters." Yes, very true. It takes the work of the few, the right context, and some stickiness to make something tip. Also, as you mentioned, the product was originally marketed a high price in more upscale magazine. On the other side, I remember the single server coffee makers in hotels - very bad. So, they were able to take the much of the quality of the upscale items, yet lower the price. This process appears to have lead it to a tipping point. Genius? Gladwell says no, but it's certainly an art - at the very least. Do you have one? Great example - thank you for sharing.
Posted by: Aimee at December 11, 2005 4:40 PMOne question I complete have though is actually more regarding how you go about building a blog which cultivates people today actually leaving comments and also moving from passive customers to proactive contributors. any specific thoughts?
Posted by: Devin Shirkey at January 15, 2011 1:39 AM