TRAILBLAZER WEB
The innovator (meaning trend-setter) is the greatest marketing asset but it is also the most difficult to reach. TFTK’s Trailblazer Web is a network of hand-picked people from around the world, giving you access to the innovator, as defined by the-first-to-know innovation diffusion model. This is a fresh interpretation of the widely used 'innovation diffusion' outlined in the book The 2.5% . Innovators create, authenticate and dictate what ideas the early adopters will be buying into. This process is forever in flux. In the market research and communication industries, you’ll hear ‘cutting edgers’, ‘creative consumers’, ‘experts’, ‘Gen Z’ (the persisting myth that ‘youth’ are innately trend-setters) – all of these to connote being a step ahead of the consuming crowd. At best, they are early adopters and, in many cases, they are the early majority looking trendy. By the time this category gives you a second hand version of the innovator's lifestyle and values, the innovator has already moved on. We have insider connections and a real understanding of the innovator’s universe. We can help you translate new, groundbreaking ideas from the underground into powerful, future-proof propositions of your own.
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What is an Alpha?
Alphas are a fluid global network of non-conformists. They are style leaders who are a step ahead of the consuming crowd. Alphas move in closed off circles. They break existing codes of behaviour to create their own rules. They look different. They may even appear threatening for outsiders. However, they are the in-crowd. Where they go, others (eventually!) follow. There are 4 types of Alphas within the-first-to-know innovation diffusion model, who are positioned on a continuum before the Early Adopter category on the ‘traditional’ innovation diffusion curve. They are the hidden influencers, whose word of mouth is very powerful. See The 2.5% .
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What is a Maverick?
Mavericks are visionaries with disruptive business ideas. They challenge the status quo. They are on the outskirts of the-first-to-know innovation diffusion model in that, in most cases, they are not part of Alpha’s outré circles but through sharing values and aesthetic sensibilities with Alphas, their respective ideas find ways of morphing into trends. The two meet at the frontier end of Alphas (the 4th category on the-first-to-know innovation continuum called Taste Maker) and the start of the Early Adopters on the innovation curve. See The 2.5% .
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What is an Expert?
In TFTK’s universe, an Expert is someone with a specialist interest/knowledge area – this can equally be a scholar or someone who is extremely passionate about their niche interest. It’s a term we use to separate this grouping from Innovators (Alphas and Mavericks). Experts provide a valuable, well-informed perspective on their subject.
If you'd like a little bit more information to help you consider how this might work for your Brand or Business, click here to get in touch.
TFTK ‘Alphas' Web
late 2000s/early 2010s
TFTK ‘Alphas' Web
mid-2010s
TFTK ‘Maverick’ Web
the 2000s
TFTK ‘Maverick’ Web
the 2010s
