Empirically defined by the authors, Groundswell is a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations .
Groundswell seeks to educate readers about the impact that blogs, community forums and wiki’s can have on the increasingly technology savvy consumer base. Strategic thrusts to the book are detailed in three major categories; Understanding the Groundswell, Tapping the Groundswell and How the Groundswell Transforms. More than ever, people have the desire to communicate and connect, albeit through increasingly varied mediums.
Understanding the Groundswell
In the first section of Groundswell, Li and Bernoff introduce how social technologies, organized by collective groups of people, can threaten companies that conduct unsatisfactory business practices. Naturally, the opposite may occur; people can create bonds to tout a company’s products and services. Either way, the key to this movement is that it is here, now. There is no denying the groundswell impact, it will impact organizational decision-making and must be recognized.
The key to understanding the Groundswell is through the Social Technographics Profile, in Figure 1 - a tool that the authors have created to analyze demographic groups to base decision-making activities.
Overall societal segments are shown between the ladder rungs, a large segment of the population chooses not to participate within the groundswell movement – yet many are clearly engaged in multiple segments. Figure 2 explains how specific demographic information can be applied to the model for further understanding and action. The example shows levels at which certain Alpha moms are engaged in the groundswell. These mothers are more apt to participate in forums as critics and spectators. They love to respond to published data (critics) while enjoying community forum content at a greater rate than the population (spectators) and organizations can tailor its online marketing strategy accordingly.
Tapping the Groundswell
The second part of the book introduces a planning process for companies to create a groundswell approach to its business. The authors have created the POST acronym; People, Objectives, Strategy and Technology. The POST process begins by analyzing demographics through the social technographics profile, and then outlines certain objectives for successful participation.‘Objectives’ refer to five ways that a company can interact with groundswell customers:
- Listening – companies must listen to what customers are saying to gain better understanding
- Talking – Through social interactive tools (blogs, forums, communities), begin spreading messages to customers
- Energizing – Determine who the most energetic users are and leverage their enthusiasm for the brand; essentially making them brand evangelists
- Supporting – Help customers support each other; an example is Dell’s user generated support forums – people have a natural affinit y to help
- Embracing – After companies have succeeded in the first four steps, engage customers in product development through active feedback principles
Note the emphasis on interaction between customers in each functional area. This is what makes the groundswell such an important focal point and can represent a real opportunity for successful organizational strategy.
How the Groundswell Transforms
After all of the preceding activities and effective, thorough market research has been conducted, organizations can begin implementing programs that seek to test their particular market and segment. Consider Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty in 2004; Unilever initially marketed through traditional media and gave away small, yet increasingly creative control by allowing teams on The Apprentice to devise brand ads. However, the campaign really picked up speed as it went online, taking small steps with identifiable metrics to test the effects of groundswell investments (ads like Evolution). Throughout the process, senior executives recognized the importance of the initiative and had the courage to stay the directed course.
In summary, successful companies that choose to enter the groundswell should focus on the three following directives; steps that in Dove’s case, proved to be extremely successful :
- Take small steps that have big impact – using the Internet to promote campaigns became viral successes – the Evolution video has been viewed over 7.5 million times
- Have a vision and a plan – Li and Bernoff recommend success to be measured in years. Dove took two years after starting the Campaign for Real Beauty to introduce Evolution
- Build leaders into the plan – senior executive support is crucial for a campaign to get off the ground and their continued support enables people the ability to learn and adapt to change in the operating environment
In addition to customer-focused promotions, companies are increasingly using the groundswell to speak with employees. Best Buy created Blue Shirt Nation in 2006 as a way to connect employees throughout the organization – a place where they can post thoughts about daily activities and potential areas of opportunity. Employees benefit by actually being heard; functional knowledge is communicated through programs centered on employee mentorship to enhance emotional attachment at Best Buy.
Final Groundswell Recommendations
Li and Bernoff note that the future of the groundswell will continue to flourish thanks to inexpensive barriers to entry coupled with the natural propensity of people who are seeking to connect with others. Final advice from the authors is asserted in seven recommendations:
1. Be willing to talk with many people – the groundswell is a personal activity
2. Be a good listener – listen to customers and employees alike
3. Be patient – buy in takes time
4. Be opportunistic – act when the time is right
5. Be flexible – adjust constantly
6. Be collaborative – seek out like minded people to overcome resistance
7. Be humble – the groundswell is powerful, engage carefully
My Thoughts to Groundswell
Significant Implications
Due to the heavy, groundbreaking nature of the book, I felt it necessary to include significant amounts of content for those to learn from and consider. Indeed, there is plenty of material to process, all of which can have an impact on an organization now and into the future. Resulting data can be extremely useful for marketers to tailor effective marketing strategies around. The social technographics tool, perhaps the star of the book, has been made available for researchers to access:
http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/profile_tool.html
Access to Brand Evangelists
Beginning in the social technographics section and continuing through to energizing the groundswell, Li and Bernoff came across LUGNET (http://www.lugnet.com/) – a community where adult Lego fans are actively engaged in promoting the brand, providing feedback to the company (in terms of design and usability) and speaking passionately about their hobby. The company has 25 Lego ‘ambassadors’ of which are competitively earned and represent adult fans from around the world. The site is user generated and truly exhibits how innovation in design coupled with customer responsiveness can attract and retain lifelong users – true brand evangelists.
Because evangelists are truly enthusiastic about the brand, marketers can make them part of their communication strategy. These people can become an integral part of a segment and can essentially make them category captains. According to Li and Bernoff, adult fans for Lego, represent $50 million (5 – 10%) in annual sales. Targeted segments such as this need to be monitored and listened to – after ensuring they represent an integral part to their online and offline strategy. Following, the five objectives (listening, talking, energizing, supporting and embracing) from the POST process will guide marketers to win, if implemented correctly.
Groundswell is a book that, in my opinion, created a new lens in which to view the increasingly powerful social technology sphere. The concepts are timely and powerful.
Citations
1. Li and Bernoff, Groundswell - Winning in a word transformed by social technologies. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Press, 2008.
2. Li and Bernoff, Groundswell - Winning in a word transformed by social technologies. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Press - page 202, 2008.
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