OPRAH WINFREY is arguably one of the most persuasive personalities in the world today.Since The Oprah Winfrey Show premiered in 1984, there has been an explosion of the Oprah Winfrey brand as a power of influence. The power of “the Oprah effect” influences how people make purchases, even vote. Over the past few decades, Winfrey has increasingly influenced how people spend their money. In 2006, CNNMoney.com ranked Winfrey second only to Google as the biggest brand newsmaker followed by Amazon, eBay and iPod. What a brand!While her syndicated show left the airwaves of local affiliate stations, it continues to air with the addition of updated remarks and some other programs featuring Winfrey on the Oprah Winfrey Network. The network is yet another example of Winfrey’s increasing amount of influence in addition to her monthly magazine O.But what comes to your mind when you think of Oprah?Angela, a self-confessed Oprah fan says: “It gives me these memories of coming home from school and sitting with my mum and my aunt watching the Oprah Show.”For millions of people every day, watching the Oprah Show was a tradition. We learned from it, we were moved by it, we were entertained by it – we saw and experienced things on the show that we might not have ever seen had it not been for Oprah’s strong desire to educate us.The Oprah Show was a powerhouse – she had an effect on her world-wide following. And such was the strength of her following, hers had transcended being merely a TV show. It was a world-wide moral sermon of sorts. Not just on us the viewers, but also those who met her, guests on her show, anyone whose life she touched was impacted in a profound way.This is what came to be known as The Oprah Effect.What exactly is The Oprah Effect?The Oprah Effect is simply the way that her fans were affected by watching the The Oprah Winfrey Show. But it’s actually a lot more than that.If you Google The Oprah Effect, you’ll find a lot of different perspectives on exactly what it is. There are several definitions that seem to suggest more than how drawn we were to this awesome woman and her show.BusinessDictionary.com gives the following definition:Oprah Effect: A phenomenon resulting from the extensive power and influence of the television personality, Oprah Winfrey, with a fan base of 42 million people, in which products and celebrities that receive her endorsement achieve the greatest heights of popularity and success. For example, books mentioned in connection with her book club have become immediate best sellers.Actually, a whole book has been written on this subject, and it is aptly titled The Oprah Effect. The book outlines ways and means to find peace, happiness and personal fulfillment in a post-Oprah Show world.
