Wining in a world transformed by social technologies

Reading Reflections 2 (Chapter 5-8)

In chapters 5 through 8 of Groundswell, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff analyzed how a company can focus on four critical activities: Listening, Talking, Energizing, and Supporting to manage their company's structure. To be successful, a company needs to engage in these four activities and continue to maintain them all the time.

First,  as Li and Charnee note “your brand is what your customers say it is. And in groundswell where they communicate with each other, they decide.”  The value of a brand belongs, not to the company, but to the market.  For example, from our last blog, Under Armour, what customers think about the brand?    There is one way to find this out: you have to listen. There are two listening strategies.  The first is to set up your own private community which is how Under Armour was able to learn about customer insights. A private community is like a continuously running, huge, engaged focus group which is a natural interaction in a setting where you can listen in.  The second listening strategy is to begin brand monitoring.  The authors suggest hiring a company to listen to feedback from the internet, blogs, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. At the heart of brand monitoring is hybrid audience measurement which is an understanding of consumer behavior. 

The second critical groundswell activity is talking.  What are the techniques for talking with the groundswell?   Here are the four ways to explore it: post a viral video, engage in social networks and user generated content sites, join the blogosphere, and create a community.

Whenever you start a conversation that will change the way you think about marketing,  “The transition from shouting to conversation will challenge your marketing department. It is a fundamental change in attitude.”

Energizing is another component of the groundswell and is a powerful way to use the groundswell to boost a company. Techniques for energizing enthusiasts include tapping into customers’ enthusiasm with ratings and reviews,  creating a community to energize your customers, and participating in and energizing online communities. 

Supporting is the last component of groundswell and as the authors point out "groundswell support needs your participation."  A great example of supporting is the nest.  The nest has created a community forum where customers talk to each other. The customers enjoy participating and sharing opinions and the nest is a great platform for companies to get answers and information which allows them to react and make their business more profitable.

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Why not just let people post questions and have someone answer them?