Embrace the Groundswell - Go Further

My mother always tells me, "every pot has a cover." In other words, there is a person out there for everyone. As always, I laugh at her expressions and change the subject. While reading Chapter 9 of Groundswell, by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, my mind comes back to this saying. If there is a person out there for everyone, is there a product out there for everyone?

I am no Dr. Phil, however, I am convinced that understanding the rules of the groundswell is similar to understanding the rules of any romantic relationship. Let's be honest, a relationship is not going to last if you do not listen, talk with, energize, and embrace the person you are with. I don't know about you, but if my partner can't bring those four things to the table, I am moving on. In the world of consumerism, we do the same.

Like most relationships, some days are not filled with rainbows and butterflies, and we hit a rough patch. When this happens, we have two options: Embrace the problem and look towards a solution, or start over. good communication is the key to survival and in the marketing world, the key to success. 

Li and Bernoff explain through case studies how embracing your customers ideas will be beneficial to your company. 

Gala Amoroso, consumer insights manager for Del Monte Foods, spent her whole career understanding the psychology behind why consumers buy certain products. In this scenario, Gala is interested in George who is a loving dog owner and only wants the best for his loyal sidekick. Gala understands that George thinks of his dog as a member of the family and wants only top of the line products. With help from a brand monitoring vendor Umbria, Del Monte had identified an audience of pet owners called "Dogs are people, too."

After understanding what George and so many others were looking for in a product, Del Monte and community vendor, MarketTools, started up a private community. 

Gala, and employees from Del Monte, were trying to figure out what products to make and how to package them. For answers, they turned to George and many customers like him to gather (detailed) feedback.

Gala asked:

(photo by: thegloss.com)

"What if your dog was a person? Ok, I know your dog IS a person. Imagine that your dog could write out his or her fantasy of what to eat for one day. What would it look like? Click the comment link below to write out what your dog would want to eat for your doggie's ideal perfect day."

George responded:

"For breakfast she would definitely want bacon and eggs and she would want ketchup on her eggs. She loves ketchup!"

As time went on, so did the comments. Del Monte gathered the customer feedback and out came Snausages Breakfast Bites, a breakfast snack for dogs. The people and the pooches were extremely happy with the product and became loyal customers.

Now, Gala and Del Monte were not the first to think of this innovative idea to embrace the groundswell for new product ideas. I believe Li and Bernoff chose this example because they did it right. Del Monte listened, talked with, energized, and embraced their customers and in return got new ideas, and a successful product. Both sides were happy with the result and the relationship between them continues.

Below is a YouTube clip of Groundswell author Josh Bernoff discussing the Del Monte case study.

Li and Bernoff believe, "Customers don't take long to tell you what they want. They use your product and interact with your company; they know what's wrong and how things can be fixed." The authors of the bestselling book understand that you might have creative employees that can come up with brilliant ideas, but the groundswell will tell you what they want and allow innovation to be faster. In the marketing world today, time is crucial.

Remember, like any relationship (romantic or not), communication is of most importance and in the world of marketing, it is everything. The choice is up to you. Will you hide from the groundswell or will you embrace it?

Get a copy of Li and Bernoff's Groundswell today to see more case studies and understand the best ways to embrace your audience. Get out there and ask questions, accept the answers, and find somebody's missing cover.

~ Heidi

Grammy's Vs. Groundswell (Round 53)

(Photo by: ICEDOTCOM)

This weekend millions of people (including myself) tuned into the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards. The night was full of fun and surprises. Lady Gaga rocked the hard-boiled egg, Christina Aguilera remembered the lyrics, and Justin Bieber (with flawless hair) went home empty-handed.



Who is Esperanza Spalding? I kept seeing on my Facebook and Twitter feeds. Esperanza Spalding is a Jazz artist who won a grammy for Best New Artist on Sunday night. Teenage music fans, as well as some adults, seemed shocked and confused over this decision. The grammy's seemed to have caused a social media earthquake and the people of the groundswell felt the repercussions. 


Social media monitoring firm Meltwater conducted an info-graphic on who would take home the gold on Sunday night. Unfortunately, the people of the groundswell got it ALL wrong.

(Info-graph by: Meltwater group)

(Click here to check out the official winners of the 2011 grammy awards.)

Although, the people of the groundswell predicted wrong, there has to be an understanding that the grammy's do not take into consideration the overwhelming media buzz to determine the winners. The Recording Academy, which is made up of men and women involved in the world of music are responsible for (breaking hearts) these decisions.


(Click here if you are interested in the grammy awards voting process.)


Year after year the grammy's have surprised the people of the groundswell when it comes to the top winners. Although, social media buzz is hard to ignore, The Recording Academy has stayed clear of the contagious and spreading (Bieber) fever.


Now, you can spend your time upset with The Recording Academy for not choosing your favorite artist to win on Sunday night, or you could thank them for opening your eyes and ears to music beyond the popular top 40. If you still don't know who Esperanza Spalding is, take a listen to the YouTube video below and decide if she is grammy worthy for yourself.






The Recording Academy understands that social media buzz is important because it belongs to music fans around the world. Last year, the grammy's created a "We Are All Fans" page, allowing people to share opinions of their favorite music artists. Even though, The Recording Academy gets the final say, embracing the groundswell is a smart decision.

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards had approximately 26.6 million viewers on Sunday night. Listening and understanding the groundswell may have reason behind the substantial numbers this year.

Will we ever see the day when The Recording Academy (over 50 years old) looks to the groundswell to decide the winners of musics biggest night? After seeing Lady Gaga hatch from an egg, I am a believer that anything can happen. 


Social media buzz is growing faster than ever before and people want to be heard. The groundswell will continue to force opinion but will The Recording Academy eventually cave? What do you think? 


In the words of Justin Bieber, "Never say never."


~ Heidi

The Groundswell - Keep Up or Get Out of the Way

Have you heard of the groundswell? If you are involved in the world of marketing and public relations, the answer should be yes. If your answer is no, then do yourself and company a favor and pick up BuisnessWeek's Bestseller Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff today.

Now more than ever customers have a huge impact on the success (or failure) of your company or product. Thanks to social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, etc. The people (customers) will have their say and opinions.  Instead of being scared of the groundswell (A social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.) you have two options:

#1."Keep up with Joneses" and jump on board.
#2. Get left behind.

Li and Bernoff suggest option #1 "You cannot sit this one out. Unless you are retiring within the next six months." The authors of this book have done their research and believe the groundswell is unstoppable. Groundswell is based on extensive data with dozens of companies and the result is this - in order to survive you must move forward. 

In Chapter 5 of Groundswell, Li and Bernoff describe the five basic elements you need to build a groundswell strategy. The five elements include listening, talking, energizing, supporting, and embracing. All companies do not share the same goals and objectives, therefore, you must choose your primary objective to focus on. Listening is arguably the most important element of the groundswell strategy, Li and Bernoff emphasize this by placing it first on the list.

For years marketeers believe they have been "listening" to their customers through research strategies. Common research methods such as questionnaires and focus groups allow companies to get insight on what their target audience is thinking about a product or service. These methods are extremely useful, but if you listen to what the people are saying without being asked, you might understand the customer a little more clear. Li and Bernoff believe there are two ways to listen to the groundswell:

 #1 Google your products name along with the word "sucks" or "awesome".
 #2 Check out what the people who have tagged your company or your products on del.icio.us are saying.

If you are working with clients, Li and Bernoff suggest that you are better off working with vendors that provide professional tools. Li and Bernoff believe opening your own private community and/or begin brand monitoring where you can hire somebody to listen to the "Internet" for you. These two strategies should be done not only so you can listen to the customers but you can understand them and act on their needs. Li and Bernoff said it best, "To profit from listening, you need a plan to act on what you learn."

This may seem like a lot to follow if you are new to the groundswell, but Li and Bernoff know what they are talking about and have done their research. If you are in the world of marketing or PR, Groundswell is the book to live by.

If you can remember one thing from this post, let it be this - "The customer is always right."

Below, is a short video of Groundswell author Josh Bernoff explaining how to effectively "listen" to your customers and be a success in a world owned by the groundswell.

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After listening to the video, I hope you decide to participate and "keep up with the Joneses." In this ever changing world of social technology, this may be your only option. Go ahead, embrace the groundswell and move forward.

~ Heidi

Foursquare: Old-School Recess to New-School Social Media

Back in September a friend of mine asked if I have heard about Foursquare. My immediate reaction was "of course! I used to play all the time!" My friend was not talking about the old-school pass the ball recess game from middle school; she was talking about the newest social media frenzy. 

A social media trend I haven’t heard of… this couldn’t be possible! I needed to know more. I went to Foursquare.com to check it out directly. My first impression was GREAT another place to tell people what I am doing (who really cares where I am) and/or another place to comment on restaurants and other local venues. 
After a few weeks of using Foursquare I realized it was much more than my statements above.


So, what exactly is Foursquare you ask? The website states that Foursquare on your phone gives you and your friends a new way of exploring your city. You can earn points and unlock badges for discovering new things. In my own words, Foursquare is a game, a GPS, a coupon, Facebook and Twitter all in one application. 


Want to get started? Check out the video below for answers to all your important "how to?" questions.

How To Unlock Your World With Foursquare on Howcast

In the world of marketing, Foursquare may have all the answers. Besides being a social media application, Foursquare keeps track of the most popular "check-ins", which tells where people are going and what they are saying about venues all around the world.


Sree Screenivasan, Dean of student affairs at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism explains in an article on DNAinfo.com what he learned from Foursquare in just two months. In the article, Professor Screenivasan talks about his teachings on social media trends using Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, skipping on Foursquare until he started using it personally. 


Ten Things I Learned from Two Months on Foursquare - DNAinfo.com


Professor Screenivasan believes, "Foursquare has potential for journalism, for businesses and everyday folks. Like all technology, it may not be appropriate for everyone, but we should all at least be familiar with it." Screenivasan now includes Foursquare during his social media lectures. 

According to the about page found on the Foursquare website co-founders Dennis Crowley and Naveen Selvadurai met in 2007 while working in New York City. They began building Foursquare in fall 2008, and launched it at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas in March 2009. As of December 2010, Foursquare had over 5 million users worldwide.

So, if you are like me and enjoy keeping up with friends and staying in the know when it comes to social media trends, check out Foursquare and start "unlocking your city" today. 

Have fun and thank me later for your new addiction! 

 ~ Heidi