(Inspired by Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point)

Everyone wants to “go viral.” That phrase alone makes my skin crawl. Viral is a buzzword people throw around when they have no clue what actually makes an idea spread. The truth is, big ideas don’t take off because they’re good. They take off because they stick.

Gladwell calls it the Stickiness Factor. I call it emotional truth. If your idea doesn’t punch someone in the gut, it’s dead before it leaves the room.

The mechanics are simple:

• Connectors. The people who spread ideas because they know everyone.
• Mavens. The people who spread ideas because they obsess over details and share them.
• Context. The timing, the environment, the cultural mood that makes an idea land.

Sounds clinical, but underneath all of that is the raw fact that if your message doesn’t cling to someone’s insides, it’s disposable. And disposable is what 99 percent of brands are creating every day.

That’s why I don’t care about reach. Reach is a vanity metric. Reach is your boss smiling at a meaningless chart while your audience scrolls past. What matters is stickiness. Did you make someone stop? Did you make them uncomfortable, angry, inspired, alive? Did you force them to carry your words around all day like a stone in their shoe?

That’s the only way anything tips. It doesn’t matter how many people you show it to if nobody gives a shit.

Relentless Creativity isn’t built to be viral. It’s built to scar. To create work that clings to people and won’t let go. Virality is a side effect. Stickiness is the strategy.

My Relentless Creativity takeaway:
Forget reach. Forget viral. If it doesn’t stick, it doesn’t matter. Create work that scars and the tipping point will take care of itself.