Chapter 11 – how connecting with the groundswell transforms your company

One of the key messages in Chapter 11 is how using the groundswell can transform your company. This transformation can look like a marked change to public relations and marketing plans, to transforming the perceptions of management.

Making too many changes at once can cause organizational change fatigue , so to prevent this Li & Bernoff tell us to take it slow, be patient, have a plan, and this approach can help to see the successful integration of groundswell transformation. Equally as important as the baby steps, is ensuring that the right person or people are engaged. The enthusiasm of Michael Dell, both in his efforts to bring the executives on board with his groundswell movement, as well as his passion to blog, were the pivotal point in turning the company around. By engaging in conversation with the public, the customers, Dell was able to regain some respect.

The same successful formula could be attributed to Unilever’s Dove transformation. They made the incremental changes necessary for acceptance by the public and the company executives. The small steps of changing the marketing focus and then aligning the conversation to it through the implementation of social media marketing initiatives such as the YouTube video “Evolution”  proved that these lower cost alternatives could be cheaper but have a bigger reach. The executives just needed to trust the product and let go of a  little bit of control.

Letting go of control and opening up a conversation is the key to the success of the groundswell, while also being one of the biggest sources of fear. In a non-profit organization such as WIN House, every dollar needs to be spent wisely and maximizing the benefits of the groundswell may be the key to getting the message more traction in the public. More awareness leads to bigger donations, and spreading the message may save lives. With the right person posting – whether its politically charged commentary, answering FAQs, or funny bits of trivia to drive people to the site – free platforms like blogs, YouTube, and Twitter can become a huge source of positive exposure. WIN House hasn’t taken advantage of these tools but the Hope Mission has posted blogs and YouTube videos designed to tell their client’s stories and influence potential philanthropists. It’s time for WIN House to reach out to these free platforms. A small investment of time, effort, and money, has the potential to yield huge returns. Even if they can’t find the right person to start a blog, having someone manage their website and post links to reputable articles and blogs written by other organizations can be a huge help to clients and be the beginning of a conversation.

References:

Li, C., & Bernoff, J., (2011). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press

YouTube

HopeMission, (2013, May 3). Hope Is Our Mission (Meet Doug, Lynelle, and Dillon), [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNocyuwAgRQ

Zephoria. (2006,October 15). Dove – Evolution Commercial (higher quality),
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U

Wikipedia

Organizational Change Fatigue. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 21, 2015 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_change_fatigue

Social Media Marketing. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved June 21, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media_marketing

Image

Man Yelling at a Woman on the Floor. Dreamstime. Retrieved June 21, 2015 from http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-domestic-violence-man-yelling-woman-floor-image44947160

 

Chapter 5 – listening to the groundswell

We business students like to use terms like “Business Intelligence” and “Customer Relationship Management” but at their core they are about understanding what customers want and need and using this information to connect with customers in a way that will help us to grow our business. In the context of groundswell movements in social media, listening is more than conducting market research to gain insights (Li & Bernoff, 2011, p.79). There are two strategies identified in Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. They are either setting up private communities and monitoring the content, or hiring someone to monitor online content on your behalf (Li & Bernoff, 2011, p.82).

The case studies used in this chapter reveal valuable information gained by corporate researchers through the use of an online environment in which users candidly reveal details to each other. These communities provide a safe place for users to share ideas, questions, and concerns with one another while simultaneously letting corporate marketing and research divisions monitor the discussions.

What Ellen Sonet, VP of marketing for Sloan & Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, found was that she and her team didn’t really understand what was important to their clients. These same clients did have interesting ideas, insight, and contributions to offer though. By employing Communispace, a provider of private online communities, Sloan-Kettering learned that they were targeting their marketing efforts in the wrong places. As a result of the detailed information sharing gained through the private online community, Sonet came to the realization that she needed to develop, among other things, a better relationship with primary care physicians since they were key players in the provision of referrals to her facility (Li & Bernoff, 2011, pp. 86-87).

The other case study provided readers the social technographics of Mini, Honda, and Volkswagon customers. In this study, Trudy Hardy, head of marketing for Mini USA, engaged MotiveQuest, another company that provides analysis of consumer motives and concerns. MotiveQuest evaluated and analyzed the numerous online references to Mini brand cars. What they were able to glean was that Mini drivers identified as a community of like-minded people, more so than most of their competitors. They also learned that Mini motorists were posting predominantly positive comments. This information led Hardy and her team to break with traditional marketing approaches and focus efforts on Mini drivers rather than Mini buyers. This led them to the conclusion that positive online discussion led to increased sales.  (Li & Bernoff, 2011, pp. 90-91).

Brazilian brand theorist Ricardo Guimaraes postulates that your brand is whatever people say it is (Li & Bernoff, 2011, p. 79). If this is the case then it behooves companies to listen to what people are saying. Changes in consumer perceptions can be mined from these tools in real time, ideas can be generated, influencers can be identified and influenced, and companies can get in front of potential PR issues buzzing online. Technology can provide easier, cheaper access to a wide variety of customers and companies only need to use this tech to connect and listen (Li & Bernoff, 2011, pp. 93-95).

In the context of WIN House, private online communities can be established for past and potential clients. Although safety is the primary concern for these clients, a network set up with careful security measures in place may help WIN House to get the candid conversations started in much the same way as Sloan-Kettering did.  This anonymous forum may lead to greater insights which would not only benefit the clients but provide the feedback WIN House could use to provide better service.

When I was still working I used to say that I wasn’t the keeper of all the good ideas, recognizing that two heads were better than one, that four heads better than two. A group, even if unbeknownst to the members, can solve problems and provide solutions with a much wider perspective. Tools like MotiveQuest and Communispace provide the tools for executives to monitor how well they’re doing and what they can do differently by actively listening to what the clients are saying and not simply noting that the clients are talking.

The WIN House website doesn’t offer any online forum for talking to others. While this is obviously a very sensitive topic, a closed online community could help to provide answers, as well as provide a group sharing dynamic which would benefit WIN House as well as the women in need. The Contact Us image below, taken from the WIN House website, shows that technology could be used to offer additional resources to both groups.

 

Reference:

Li, C., & Bernoff, J., (2011). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press

Image:

WIN House. Contact Us. Retrieved from http://www.winhouse.org/contact-us-2/

Chapter 3 – The Social Technographics Profile

Chapter Three of Groundswell introduces us to the 7 technographics – that is technological demographics that use social media. Knowing the tendencies of these groups can help to focus a groundswell campaign to match the characteristics of each group in order to make the most benefit. Social media users are broken down into groups; Creators, Conversationalists, Critics, Collectors, Joiners, Spectators, and Inactives (Groundswell, 2011, p. 43-45). By knowing the typical profile of each of these technographics and what types of activities they’re likely to participate in can give the campaign the focus it needs to get off the ground. Li and Bernoff show us in Figure 3-1 (p. 42) that U.S. adults are more likely to visit a social networking site or watch an uploaded video than they are to start a wiki. Globally, these results will vary, the country of origin will influence the prevalence of each type of technographic. For example, North Americans are more inclined to be Joiners and Spectators, whereas in South Korea are more likely to be Creators (pp. 43-44).

What this means to those hoping to start a groundswell is that each issue needs to be studied specific to each geographical area and demographic. In doing so, a social technographic profile of the user target market can be used to develop the strategy.

For example, WIN House target market is adult women in Edmonton and surrounding areas. The Forrester website, Empowered, narrows down the technographics by selecting details about age, country of origin, and gender. From there, they are able to predict the type of social media users in this group. I have attached two charts, one for Canadian women aged 35-44 and the other one for Canadian women 25-34. Although the numbers for each technographic profile varied slightly, it is still overwhelmingly obvious that the target audience is most likely to be a Joiner or Spectator, so expecting women in this group to start a groundswell blogging campaign is not likely to yield positive results. Women in these age groups are somewhat comfortable being Critics though, so engaging them in an activity where they can add their views to someone else’s work (like a wiki or a blog) would likely be more appealing.

Women in spousal abuse situations are more than likely to have suffered mental abuse, destroying their self-esteem. This type of person is less likely to draw attention themselves by creating a blog or wiki, but as predicted by the technographics, she would be most interested in reading others’ content, watching related materials on YouTube, and perhaps anonymously posting a comment.

Only by understanding the specific issue, how it relates to our target market, and in which geographical area we are working in, can we predict the type of behaviour and adjust our tactics and strategy to engage the widest audience. Chapter Three of Groundswell demonstrates the differences between social media users and gives us the tools to identify which tactic will yield the desired results.

 

Reference:

Li, C., & Bernoff, J., (2011). Groundswell: Winning in a world transformed by social technologies. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press

Images:

Technographic profile of young, Canadian, adult women. Retrieved from http://empowered.forrester.com/tool_consumer.html

Why biarenaissance?

Bia was the Greek spirit or diamona of force, power, and strength. Sister to Nike, daughter of a Titan, enforcer for Zeus. Bia was strength personified.

Renaissance is French for rebirth, revival.

Since this blog will talk about starting over and provide tips, guidance, and ideas for those who are starting over, or even those just starting out, in their pursuit of independence and self-reliance, these two words describe my metamorphosis and will, I hope, inspire others to challenge and believe in themselves.

Hello world!

This blog was started as an assignment for Social media marketing class. Anyone who knows me knows I’m not often at a loss for words or opinions, but I really don’t know how I’m going to fill this blog. Time will tell. In searching for related blogs to add to my RSS feeds I found that there aren’t a lot of blogs offering advice about job hunting or related tips. This blog could have a real market demand, if I were to dedicate the time and effort to creating a strong blog, filled with related pictures, videos, feedback opportunities and all the qualities of a good social media site. I look forward to the opportunity and challenge. Now to figure out how to add a picture to my post 🙂