unit 4 dc7
250 word minimum 2 references in APA format
In chapter six, Gladwell discusses the rise and decline of Airwalk shoes. The brand was originally geared towards the skateboarding subculture of Southern California, but sought to transcend this niche market and attain national name recognition. They succeeded in this endeavor with the help of an advertising agency with a unique understanding of the factors and variables that influence the public’s perception of “coolness.” The marketing campaign ruthlessly honed in on and exploited several timely avatars of coolness, such as Tibetan Buddhism, pachuco gang culture, and hipsters’ ironic embrace of preppy culture, rendering Airwalk shoes cool by association in the process.

The company’s unique strategy of offering unique products to boutique stores and a more mainstream shoe selection to department stores had long kept both cutting-edge hipsters and their more mainstream, impressionable counterparts content. However, as a cost-cutting measure, Airwalk eventually began providing all of its distributors with a single line of shoes. The delicate balance that had long rendered the company’s products cool in the minds of the public was disturbed, and sales declined significantly. This week as we discuss tipping points let us look at what has happen to the video rental market in the last 4 months. Stores have closed and video kiosks have taken their place. What might be the public schools tipping point be if a better system comes along. We are ½ the state’s budget. If you were an entrepreneur and wanted to privatize education – where would you start?