[Reflection #1] Understanding and utilizing groundswell - much easier than “taking pee out of swimming pool”

“Groundswell” was a new word to me as I started reading this book.  In Collins English Dictionary, the groundswell is explained as a sudden growth of public feeling or support for something.  From my understanding, the “ground” represents the masses and the “swell” implies the power of them, which can readily get businesses nervous and anxious. In Groundswell, Josh Bernoff defines groundswell as a general direction that people trade by tech in unconventional ways.  Showing the case of a blogger named Rudd-O who sharing the HD-DVD processing key, the author spotlights the speediness and mightiness of the irreversible collision of three forces: people, technology, and economy.

Here’s what ingenious online citizens created:

Such phenomena are common in Sina Weibo, one of the most popular social media sites in China. When institutions or celebrities purchase to delete their scandals shared virally, they fail to remove the source of the trouble.  Rebellious users carrying information will share messages in other ways or on other platforms.  Apparently, an individual trying to get rid of terrible scandals on the Internet doesn’t understand that his or her reputation is like a cellphone fallen into a toilet, ending in either disgust or damage.

That booming technology is accessed by substantial majorities in an era where traffic means money is a situation that most contemporary ventures need to face prudently and wisely.  In chapter 2, the writer shows the importance of paying attention to groundswell by illustrating the case of GM and the essence of Japan jujitsu.  Though it's always hard to control messages going viral, PR managers and those representatives of corporates can turn those pressures into the advantage. Besides, businesses are supposed to realize that not the technology, but relationship, is the key factor in the groundswell.  For example, they need to figure out questions like how people online bind together and how communities are created.

However, where should businesses start to survive in the groundswell? By utilizing what is introduced in chapter 3, the social technographics profile, they’re able to know the characters of their customers’ preferences online.  To illustrate, Lego culture archive Eric Kingsley, one of its active fans, as creators because he operates websites contributing to Lego culture; and Joe Comeau as critics since he likes reacting to Lego-related discussion and making comments actively on forums.  Via such information, Lego could know what its major customers care about and thus prioritize marketing strategies.  Another case is alpha moms. In this targeting group, the percentage of creators is low and that of critics is high, so strategies may need to focus on technologies including forums, ratings, and reviews but not blogging.

Nevertheless, delighting customers is not enough. The biggest challenge is to form a sound strategy when businesses tap the groundswell, which entails first the objective.  Just like people move forward without goals will lose direction, businesses need to know why they need to reach people online. Otherwise, they might face the same situation like Walmart, an example of bad positioning and attracting haters wherever it shows up.  That conveys how significant for a business to have appropriate objectives.  These could be listening, talking, energizing, supporting and embracing. No matter what objectives are, businesses still need to focus on RELATIONSHIPS when looking at too much information provided.