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1-Page Summary of Hit Makers
Overview
Creating a hit is not an exact science. It’s hard to predict what will be popular and why. For example, it’s tough to know if something like art or a new product will become popular with the public.
However, there are a few key points that can help. The author will outline some strategies to make products more successful. Once you know what makes a product or service successful, you’ll be one step closer to making it mainstream and popular among your target audience.
In this article, you’ll learn about the importance of repetition; how awards can actually hurt your popularity; and what happened to the laugh track.
Big Idea #1: Popularity is about exposure, not quality.
When you’re in a museum or art gallery, it may seem like the pieces of art that are popular are actually good. But there’s often another reason for something becoming popular besides its quality.
Just look at the paintings of Claude Monet. Many of them, like The Japanese Footbridge, depict ponds filled with colorful water lilies. These are very famous and a lot of people go to museums just to see them. In comparison, Gustave Caillebotte’s work is less well known because it was never shown in an exhibition as big as that one for Monet’s work.
The description of his work was accurate. Few people had heard of him, but he painted in an impressionistic style that is delicate and innovative for its time, around 1876.
Caillebotte’s work was at least as good as Monet’s, but he didn’t become famous. It’s because of exposure to an audience, which is a fundamental ingredient in popularity.
Caillebotte was a famous artist who also collected other artists’ work. He had a special fondness for impressionist art, and after his death, some of his collection was displayed at the Musée du Luxembourg in an exhibit of Impressionist paintings.
In 1874, a group of impressionist painters were hung in an exhibit. However, there was one painter who wasn’t included in the exhibit and he is now considered to be as famous as those that were exhibited.
Big Idea #2: People are drawn to objects that are novel, yet familiar enough to be recognizable.
Most people don’t think about the history of design when they see a bullet train or a soda fountain. But every object has a story behind it and these objects in particular tell us something about how people perceive everyday items.
The common factor between them is Raymond Loewy, an orphan who was born in France and grew up to be a talented designer. He single-handedly brought modern design to the United States.
When Loewy arrived in the US, he was inspired by modernist architecture. In just two decades, he channeled this inspiration into a project to redefine American design.
He created designs for sleek, aerodynamic trains and cars. He also designed the first ever Coca-Cola soda fountains as well as the Lucky Strike cigarette package.
In order to produce good design, you need familiarity with more exciting or novel characteristics. Loewy combined these two elements and came up with a theory called MAYA (most advanced yet acceptable).
There are two things that people look for in an object. First, they want something that is recognizable and second, they prefer familiar objects. Because of this, successful designs strike a balance between these two aspects.
For example, a professor of design and psychology conducted an experiment in 2011 that found people like objects that are both typical and novel.
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His train designs were clearly recognizable, but they were also different from the standard trains.
