Bena's Blog

Reading Reflections 3 (Chapter 9 - 12 ) For the last few weeks, we learned what happened once a brand embraces the groundswell .  The authors Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff explain  how  people using online social technologies such as blogs , Facebook , Twitter , Youtube to discuss products and companies, write their own news, and find their own deals.    Embracing the groundswell, the benefits are boundless. Embracing customers is a new kind of development and  ” Innovating with help from a customer is such a great idea (182).”   .  The "  My starbucks idea " campaign  is a successful  example.  How many of you have a cup of coffee from Starbucks daily?  The coffee giant's social media strategy is built around their company web site and six additional social platforms, including Twitter , Facebook , Pinterest , Google+ , Youtube , and My starbucks idea.   T he  My Starbucks idea p latform, deve...

Social Media Exposure In my previous posts, I discussed the importance of groundswell in helping  a business listen, engage, and energize its followers.  Have you noticed that creative advertisement s are impacting the audience's awareness,   reaching many with their message?   T o start, let’s agree that brand awareness is a measure of how recognizable a brand is.   A company's  social media must measure brand awareness in order to know its audience and increase its sale leads.  Creative advertisements position companies  as corporate adopters of social media engagement.   Below are creative advertisements that are inspiration al to audiences.                             A coffee shop install a heating system at bus station. This consumer couldn't help looking back with a smile at  the coffee map on the sewer which ...

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 f our critical activities: Listening, Talking, Energizing, and Sup porting  to manage their company's structure.  To be success ful , a company needs to engage in these f our activities and continue to maintain them all the time. F irst,  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?    T here is one way to find this out:  y ou 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 l...

Introduction Have you ever thought about launching a new product where there is no previous audience?   Let’s talk about a true story- UnderArmour .   KevinPlank , who founded Under Armour in 1996,  was a 23 year old special teams captain of the University of Maryland football team. Plank got the idea for the Under Armour brand after noticing how much dryer his compression shorts were compared to regular shorts.  Plank set out to design a shirt made of synthetic fabric that would wick away moisture and began selling the apparel out of the trunk of his car and his grandmother’s basement. We don’t see commercials for Under Armour on television.  The company's marketing is based upon word-of-mouth that creates demand.  Due to the increasing number of sports players, Under Armour has seen demand for its products grow.  With a stable and growing reach across the country it is important for Under Armour to implement the available...

 Reflections 1 (Chapter1-4) What is the  groundswell ?  The 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”.   Y ou might remember that our book mentioned a particular website called BzzAgen t , which discussed a new   marketing component used in  social media. The authors Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff    explained how to understand, interact ,and  build  trust with an audience  and  also how to   protect brands and integrate social media into existing marketing plans.    W hat we call the “social technics profile” is a  key concept in groundswell. This is basically an assessment of the customer and the type of social activities in which they participate.  The   Video call 119- Apps on Google play models customer involvement using the  POST met...