What Makes a Hit, A Hit?

Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction by Derek Thompson (2017)

Hit Makers by Derek Thompson

Instead of a traditional book review, I will share a handful of things I learned from this book. I went in unsure of what to expect, but the more I read, the more enraptured I became with the concepts the author presented. I studied marketing in college. So, a book like this that is willing to share how a hit becomes a hit is right up my alley.

Hit Makers aimed to answer two key questions:

1. What is the secret to making products that people like–in music, movies, television, books, games, apps, and more across the vast landscape of culture?

2. Why do some products fail in these marketplaces while similar ideas catch on and become massive hits?

The key answer to these questions is familiarity, but a little to the left.

People want and will accept something new, but not too new. Familiar, but not the same.

Familiar Surprises

Neophilic and neophobic concepts exemplify this. Thompson states, “Most consumers are simultaneously neophilic–curious to discover new things–and deeply neophobic–afraid of anything that’s too new. The best hit makers are gifted at creating moments of meaning by marrying new and old, anxiety and understanding. They are architects of familiar surprises,” (pg. 7). Familiar surprises. Something about that phrase struck me. It’s simple. It’s almost obvious. Yet, until it was spelled out before me, I never would have thought it up.

Why do women like a dress ten times more when they realize it has pockets? It’s a surprise, yes, but it’s also a comfortable and welcome one. Also, we never get proper pockets in our clothes so it’s that much more thrilling.

Fluency

The second concept I learned about was fluency. It turns out there is a “psychological term for thinking that feels easy and it’s called ‘fluency,’” (pg. 43).

Fluency comes from familiarity. Alternatively, disfluency comes from having to think too hard. Yet, people will endure disfluence if they expect a fluent ending. They’ll watch a complicated movie because, on one hand, disfluency requires higher attention and thus, engagement. And on the other, they hold onto the expectation that it will all make sense in the end.

The first season of The Witcher does this well. In its eight episodes, the viewer is guided carefully through leaps in and out of time, until the very end when the story catches up with the present. Then, two of the three main characters are finally in the same place and the story can move solely forward in time in season two. I remember watching that first season and despite being confused more than a handful of times, when everything came together in that last episode it was so satisfying. I endured the complexity of the show because I knew in the end it would all make sense and be worth the effort.

The Power of Eloquence

The power of a good speech or turn of phrase is not new to me, but it’s worth noting here because I am nothing if not a lover of words and how they can so deeply affect us. Many of us are familiar with Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech. It’s effective due to the repetition of “I have a dream.” 

While I Have a Dream evokes positive emotions and community, words can also have the opposite effect. In “Influence” by Dr. Robert Cialdini, he defines “the principle of social proof as ‘the greater the number of people who find any idea correct, the more the idea will be correct,’” (pg. 142).

Whether the book was trying to convey this or not, my immediate thought went to the results of the most recent U.S. election. Between the power of exposure, words, and influence, it’s no wonder that even blatant lies can so easily feel like truth. The more you’re exposed to an idea, thought, or opinion, the more likely you’ll come to believe it. And that can become a very dangerous thing.

Final Thoughts

In the end, hits become hits due to a multitude of factors, but repeated exposure, peer influence, and familiar surprises are the top three.

There are several more concepts and examples Thompson covers in the book so if you’re interested in learning more I’d definitely pick up a copy or see if your local library has it.

I was honestly, pleasantly surprised when I reached the last page of this book. I was unsure what else there was to learn, especially given the other, and outdated, business books I purchased from the library sale back in April 2024, which were of little use to me, but were still worth a quick read.

Hit Makers, however, is much more recent and more with the current times. Though, I have to wonder what Thompson would think of the current state of ever-improving technology and the influence of AI.

As much as I love marketing, design, and writing, most of any established advice becomes obsolete so quickly. It’s difficult to navigate the always-changing landscape of business. These days I ignore the rules and the algorithms, but gaining any opportunity to peek inside the human mind and try to decipher how it works will always be of interest to me.