The Groundswell Today – Not A Thing of the Past

Stay updated through the groundswell

            Business strategy books run the risk of becoming outdated due to periodical changes in the business world. Groundswell, however, has not fallen into that dilemma. Ina way, the groundswell sticks to traditional marketing objectives used by businessesfor the past decade but it knows how best to adapt to changes. We are the user, moderators, facilitators…however you want to call us…of the groundswell. It is there for us to appropriate for the benefit of our company and customers. In conclusion to the Groundswell book, Li and Bernoff describe the evolution of the groundswell as the ‘ubiquitous groundswell’. “The net result of all thisaccelerating activity is that the groundswell is about to get embedded withinevery activity, not just the computers, but on mobile devices and in the realworld”. This ultimately means that social networks will connect people with the groups they care about.

            Don’t you think that everyday, we push the cyber boundaries of the groundswell and are taken by surprise? I certainly know from my personal experience that the future of the groundswell is happening everyday. I receive immediate updates on my iphone of new emails, I tweet to my followers and I geotag my instagrams. Throughout all of my social media activity, I am constantly learning something new. I am assimilated into social media, but I would not that that I am fully assimilated. “All that’s missing is participation – by more people, and by morecompanies – and that’s coming. Rapidly.” Li and Bernoff also remind us that it is not about the technology, because if we were to focus on that aspect alone, companies would get nowhere and companies will lose control. Their social media marketing strategies will be “outdated” if technology was a priority.

It is also important to learn from other social media marketing gurus. Tim Leberecht, chief marketing officer at Frog, helps to spark and nurture new thinking among marketers all over the world by teaching them “3 ways to (usefully) lose control of your brand”. First, you can give people more control through collaboration to create new ideas (embracing). The second, is to give people less control with more meaning. Giving people less control counters the abundance of choice that customers might have online. Letting employees and customers interact limits that radical openness of the company (speaking). The third is to stay true to the brand’s true self. Do you think your company could live by these three advices?

The groundswell can help any business, no matter which stage of success or failure they are at. From a dying business to a thriving one, the groundswell is always there to help. Patagonia is a outdoor clothing company that released a daring sustainability campaign online and offline called “Don’t Buy This Jacket”. It is a part of their mission to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis. “It would be hypocritical for us to workfor environmental change without encouraging customers to think before they buy.” Patagonia is honest with their consumers, so much so that they are willing to address the need to reduce consumption event though they thrive on product sales. They used the groundswell, like blogging, to spread this campaign and their website to gather pledges from enthusiastic fans. They have acknowledged the reality that brand identity and staying true to their mission is put on a pedestal online. They are marketing their brand’s transparency and it is working.  

The future of the groundswell is what is happening right now, how we are using it today, and not what we can predict it will do tomorrow. Taking risks involve making immediately decisions and the groundswell encourages that because of its unlimited possibilities and outcomes. Patagonia took a might big risk. I want to encourage companies to do the same but to understand your objectives thoroughly first before submerging into the groundswell. Make Li and Bernoff proud!

Li and Bernoff Groundswell Lessons summarized:

• Never forget that the groundswell is about person-to-person activity
• Be a good listener – listen to customers, employees, etc.
• Be patient – take that first step towards your journey, it will take time
• Be opportunistic – progress is progress even if it is small
• Be flexible – continue to adjust and learn from decisions
• Be collaborative - use support from colleagues and customers
• Be humble – understand that power in the groundswell does not belong to you

Please feel free to leave me any questions or comments.