I’m finishing up the book The Deviant’s Advantage, by Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker … subtitle; How to use Fringe Ideas to Create Mass Markets (Deviance meaning distance from the norm, not “a bizarre and twisted sociopath.”) Their premise is that ALL innovation goes through a predictable evolution of phases.

Here’s the Reader’s Digest version of the path:

• The Fringe …€” All new, bold, innovative ideas start out as a passion in the heart of a single individual. At this point there’s no audience, let alone a market for the idea.
• The Edge …€” Next, a very small number of people (typically different than those on the fringe) will adopt it and start to spread the idea (which they call the devox … the voice of the deviant)
• The Realm of the Cool …€” As the audience grows larger, the very early adopters will take hold of the idea. As the devox starts to move from the Edge to the Realm of the Cool, it starts to have market value.
• The Next Big Thing …€” This is where innovative ideas start to take off. Think Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point, or Seth Godin’s Idea Virus. Most marketers and business owners seek to have their products and services make it to this level of success. But there’s much more …
• Social Convention …€” The innovation makes it to the mass market …€” through the early adpoters and on through the early and late majorities (a la Everett Rogers)

At this point, the ideas can take a path through one or more alternative phases. Let’s use Elvis Presley as an example to show you these next possible steps.

Certainly The King was an innovator. His hip gyrations moved him from the Fringe into the Edge. Radio exposure and teen fans moved him into the Realm of the Cool (think of all those screaming girls in his 1950’s audiences). Then came the Ed Sullivan Show moving him on to Social Convention (think of the size of the audiences and his record sales in the 60’s).

After all of the above happens, here are the next possible steps. Elvis is found in three out of four;

• Cliche …€” When you think of Las Vegas impersonators … yep, you think of Elvis. There are now LOTS of Elvis ideas that have become cliche; big side burns, peanut butter and ‘nana sandwiches, big-coller glitter jump suits, and on and on.
• Icon …€” Although many parts of the “Elvis Idea” have become satirized and have fallen into cliche, he certainly is seen as a music industry icon.
• Archetype …€” Watts and Wacker give a fabulous 5 point list of what defines an archetype. Look for this in a future post, or better yet, read the book. Suffice it to say, Elvis IS The King of Rock and Roll.
• Oblivion …€” Not yet into oblivion, but give it another generation (or two) and the passion for the King will likely die down. Think about the number of Rudolph Valentino fan clubs that are left in the world.

So, what does this mean to you? Your products, your services, your entire industry, your ideas are all on the above path …€“ like it or not. Are you managing their growth or are you just hoping things work out.

Having an awareness of this evolution process can be both motivating and enlightening. Realizing your industry is passing into oblivion may help you adjust your career path so you don’t go down with a sinking ship. Realizing that you might be actually watching an idea move from the Fringe to the Edge might allow you to hang on to a screamin’, multi-million dollar ride to the center of Social Convention (think Pet Rocks and Frisbees). Understanding that an idea steeped in Social Convention may provide the opportunity of developing a Cliche product line. This awareness provides endless possibilities. Enjoy the ride!

This entry was posted on Friday, June 22nd, 2007 at 7:41 am and is filed under Einstein-esque. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.