Foreword

Introduction

SECTION 1: Why Ideas Matter

Farms, Factories And Idea Merchants

Why Are Ideaviruses So Important?

Five Things Ideaviruses Have In Common

Seven Ways An Ideavirus Can Help You

The Sad Decline of Interruption Marketing

We Live In A Winner-Take-Almost-All World

The Traffic Imperative: Why Sites Fail

We Used To Make Food. We Used To Make Stuff. Now We Make Ideas

People Are More Connected Than They Ever Were Before. We Have Dramatically More Friends Of Friends And We Can Connect With Them Faster And More Frequently Than Ever

There's A Tremendous Hunger To Understand The New And To Remain On The Cutting Edge

While Early Adopters (The Nerds Who Always Want To Know About The Cool New Thing In Their Field) Have Always Existed, Now We've Got More Nerds Than Ever Before. If You're Reading This, You're A Nerd!

Ideas Are More Than Just Essays And Books. Everything From New Technology To New Ways Of Creating, To New Products Are Winning Because Of Intelligent Ideavirus Management By Their Creators

The End Of The Zero Sum Game

SECTION 2: How To Unleash An Ideavirus

While It May Appear Accidental, It's Possible To Dramatically Increase The Chances Your Ideavirus Will Catch On And Spread

The Heart Of The Ideavirus: Sneezers

Sneezers Are So Important, We Need To Subdivide Them

The Art Of The Promiscuous

It's More Than Just Word Of Mouth

An Ideavirus Adores A Vacuum

Once It Does Spread, An Ideavirus Follows A Lifecycle. Ignore The Lifecycle And The Ideavirus Dies Out. Feed It Properly And You Can Ride It For A Long Time

Viral Marketing Is An Ideavirus, But Not All Ideaviruses Are Viral Marketing

What Does It Take To Build And Spread An Ideavirus?

There Are Three Key Levers That Determine How Your Ideavirus Will Spread

Thirteen Questions Ideavirus Marketers Want Answered

Five Ways To Unleash An Ideavirus

SECTION 3: The Ideavirus Formula

Managing Digitally-Augmented Word Of Mouth

Tweak The Formula And Make It Work

Advanced Riffs On The Eight Variables You Can Tweak In Building Your Virus

Sneezers

Hive

Velocity

Vector

Medium

Smoothness

Persistence

Amplifier

SECTION 4: Case Studies and Riffs

The Vindigo Case Study

Saving The World With An Ideavirus

Is Unleashing the Ideavirus An Ideavirus?

Moving Private To Public

You're In The Fashion Business!

The Money Paradox

Think Like A Music Executive (Sometimes)

Is That Your Final Answer?

A Dozen Ideaviruses Worth Thinking About

Why I Love Bestseller Lists

How A Parody Of Star Wars Outsold Star Wars

Wassup?

Judging A Book By Its Cover

Being The Most

In Defense Of World Domination

If You're A Member Of The Academy, You Go To Movies For Free

How An Ideavirus Can Drive The Stock Market

Bumper Sticker Marketing

No, You Go First!

Digital Media Wants to Be Free

Van Gogh Lost His Ear To Prove A Point

But How Would We Make Money?

Crossing The Chasm With An Ideavirus

The Myth Of The Tipping Point

The Compounding Effect

Bill Gates' Biggest Nightmare

Hey, Skinny!

Get Big Fast? The Mistake So Many Companies Make

The Heart Of Viral Marketing

The Great Advertising Paradox

Permission: The Missing Ingredient

How A Virus And Permission Team Up To Find Aliens

The Art of Creating an Ideavirus

Is He Really More Evil Than Satan Himself?

Case Study: Why Digimarc Is Going To Fail

Why Are These Cows Laughing?

Never Drink Alone

The Power Of Parody

Bee Stings And The Measles

But Isn't It Obvious?

Your Company's Worst Enemy

Step By Step, Ideavirus Tactics

The Future Of The Ideavirus: What Happens When Everyone Does It?

Acknowledgments

Afterword

Index