I’m a physics geek. I know that must sound strange coming from a writer. We’re not usually known for our scientific prowess. But I can qualify it- I don’t understand the math. What I actually like is learning about the concepts within physics, without all the figurin’.
I watch the PBS show Nova on Saturday night usually (I know- wild!), and they just happened to have a show on last night about fractals. If you’re unfamiliar with what fractals look like, or who discovered them, rest assured that the story is as interesting as the concept itself.
Briefly, fractals are geometric figures made of shapes that repeat themselves at smaller scales infinitely. Computer graphics, most notably video games and movie CGI, are built largely on fractals.
Watch that NOVA show. It’s amazing. You’ll be blown away, like I was, about how fractal geometry shows up in almost everything in nature. Most interesting? The amount of trees of a given size in a forest are distributed in direct proportion to the sizes and number of the branches of a single tree in that forest.
Chew on that for awhile.
So what does this have to do with marketing? Repetition, something that lodges itself so firmly in the market that it repeats itself everywhere. Unlike viral marketing, which grows enormously and then dies quickly, fractal marketing goes forever, repeating itself at every scale imaginable.
Fractal marketing is more natural than viral marketing. Viral marketing has a hook, a catch, or a gimmick (some of them brilliant) but fractal marketing might not have any of those things. When your name is synonymous with your service, you’re there.
Google is an example of a company that’s “gone fractal”. Band Aid is a brand that did it. Velcro is fractal, and Post-it notes are too.
The bar is set pretty high for fractal marketing, but the structure exists. What’s interesting about it is that it’s created almost solely on the value of the product, not the amount of hype created around it.
Another interesting point: Fractals are infinite, but they have a starting point. It’s worth looking for in the business world. Are there any products right now that are about to go fractal?
Tags: business relationships, content, content marketing, marketing strategy, Social Media
Nice post, Ben. I enjoy the ubiquity of fractals in all parts of our lives and our penchant for not noticing. The application of the concept to marketing is brilliant. I’d be curious to know if companies like Band Aid or Google set out to “go fractal” or if it is more of a phenomenon that occurs without regard to the initial plans of the company.
I imagine that recognition of that event horizon by the company is crucial. How many companies were poised to “go fractal” but missed recognizing it?
I’d also be curious to know if it is possible to identify those factors that result in a business “going fractal”. Or quotes for that matter :-)
If I had the ability to identify a company that’s about to go fractal, I would be in a different line of work!
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Ben Curnett
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August 25th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Thanks, Jonathan. My guess is that the the ability to identify the factors for going fractal exists, but, much like recognizing fractals themselves, it mostly escapes us.
A quick google search found a couple of people using the term (damn! I thought I coined it), one being the urban dictionary definition that specifies a company not being able to anticipate it. But I don’t know if that’s a part of the definition I would use.
I think there’s a book idea in there.
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I had the same thought today Ben. My partner and I have been involved with a 14 yr old network marketing company, Tahitian Noni International, for nearly 6 years now. The flagship product, Tahitian Noni Juice, is seriously powerful and the incredibly fast growth of TNI is a testament to that. I was thinking about the TNI business model and wondering if it was, in fact, fractal rather than pyramidal – as it is so often assumed to be.
“What’s interesting about it is that it’s created almost solely on the value of the product, not the amount of hype created around it.”
After 6 years working with Tahitian Noni Juice in the most anti network marketing culture you can imagine (northern ireland) we KNOW that our business has been created solely on the value of the product. That is an undeniable fact. I’d love to learn more from you on this subject.
Much respect for some brilliant thinking!
Louisa
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Cool stuff Ben!
Got a few questions though –
1 – in nature (or physics), can a single fractal have multiple starting points, or must the origin be singular.
2 – once each fractal node is created, does it exists perpetually or can it die off if, for example, it fails to replicate?
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Ben Curnett
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October 20th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
Eric, I have no idea :-) It seems like the origin must be singular, as the first fractal geometries were created by iterative equations. So, changing # + fixed # = new #, where the new number always becomes the changing number after the first equation to make the set.
As far as fractals dying off, it seems like it would be possible in nature. When you get down to atoms, the pattern has to disappear, I would guess. But in geometry, it just keeps going.
Like I said, I really don’t know. But it’s fascinating stuff.
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