There are songs that sound good but never hit. Then there are songs that are a hit the instant they are released. For example, Sinzia by Nameless, Kigeugeu by Jaguar, or Merimela
by that guy. These songs stick with us and are repeated over and over
like a broken record (pun intended). The third category of songs that
hit is the most curious: Songs that take forever to hit, and once they reach a certain boiling point they do not want to leave us. The most apt example is Fundamentals by Ken Wamaria.
This song was released two years ago and only caught its buzz recently. Despite being a song with utterly no content and basic repetition of the same ten words in four different languages, it is so infectious you will catch yourself humming it in church. You probably started humming it as soon as you saw the word fundamentals in this sentence. What caused its sudden catchiness two years after release?
Infectious. That is the word. What makes things infectious? What made the "Pesa Pap" advert so infectious that today pap is accepted as a word meaning "instant"? Why would you yawn when the person seated across you yawns? What made quail rearing a hit in Kenya? Why is everyone and their president taking selfies?
The complex answer is based on biologist Richard Dawkin's theory of genes. A simplification of it is that just like genes; songs, ideas, social behaviour, catchphrases, fashion trends – like skinny jeans and Mohawks – replicate themselves and transfer themselves from human mind to human mind. These ideas are called memes.
A book I read recently by Malcolm Gladwell seeks to explain the self propagation of a message/idea/product in three ways:
1. It has to be sticky: Such a message has to have an inherent quality of being memorable. For a song, catchy beats and repetitiveness are probably the most obvious sticky factors.
2. The 'right' people have to spread it: Gladwell says three kinds of people are fundamental (ahem) if an idea is to become epidemic. You need connectors who are people who know almost everyone. You need mavens who are guys who know almost everything. And you need salesmen, who are persuaders. Somebody influential, say a respected DJ like DJ Styles, must have come across Fundamentals recently and claimed that it is a great song. Then our minds were convinced it is a great song.
3. It has to be in the right context: Human beings are sensitive to their environment. There has to be a right environment for an idea to become an epidemic. This can explain how waves of student strikes become fashionable in boarding schools before mock exams. For the case of a song, if it is what is played to you in a matatu or a bar after a long day, it becomes catchy.
Can this theory be used to make your product or business or political campaign catch and spread like wildfire? I think so. But this article only tries to explain the What of memes. I do not know the How. If I did, I would become an advertising agent and every commercial I make will hit.
This song was released two years ago and only caught its buzz recently. Despite being a song with utterly no content and basic repetition of the same ten words in four different languages, it is so infectious you will catch yourself humming it in church. You probably started humming it as soon as you saw the word fundamentals in this sentence. What caused its sudden catchiness two years after release?
Infectious. That is the word. What makes things infectious? What made the "Pesa Pap" advert so infectious that today pap is accepted as a word meaning "instant"? Why would you yawn when the person seated across you yawns? What made quail rearing a hit in Kenya? Why is everyone and their president taking selfies?
The complex answer is based on biologist Richard Dawkin's theory of genes. A simplification of it is that just like genes; songs, ideas, social behaviour, catchphrases, fashion trends – like skinny jeans and Mohawks – replicate themselves and transfer themselves from human mind to human mind. These ideas are called memes.
A book I read recently by Malcolm Gladwell seeks to explain the self propagation of a message/idea/product in three ways:
1. It has to be sticky: Such a message has to have an inherent quality of being memorable. For a song, catchy beats and repetitiveness are probably the most obvious sticky factors.
2. The 'right' people have to spread it: Gladwell says three kinds of people are fundamental (ahem) if an idea is to become epidemic. You need connectors who are people who know almost everyone. You need mavens who are guys who know almost everything. And you need salesmen, who are persuaders. Somebody influential, say a respected DJ like DJ Styles, must have come across Fundamentals recently and claimed that it is a great song. Then our minds were convinced it is a great song.
3. It has to be in the right context: Human beings are sensitive to their environment. There has to be a right environment for an idea to become an epidemic. This can explain how waves of student strikes become fashionable in boarding schools before mock exams. For the case of a song, if it is what is played to you in a matatu or a bar after a long day, it becomes catchy.
Can this theory be used to make your product or business or political campaign catch and spread like wildfire? I think so. But this article only tries to explain the What of memes. I do not know the How. If I did, I would become an advertising agent and every commercial I make will hit.
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