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 enlarge | Authors: Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff
Publisher: Harvard Business School Press
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $17.95
You Save: $12.00 (40%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  32 reviews
Sales Rank: 493
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 1422125009
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.4833
EAN: 9781422125007
ASIN: 1422125009
Publication Date: April 21, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Social Media for the Enterprise June 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
'Groundswell' can serve as both a great overview and an introduction to the social media trends. Being an early adopter myself, I can't say that this book has changed my view or understanding of the industry, but it is definitely a book I will recommend to any newcomer. Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff provide a number of great examples of how companies have leveraged the 'Groundswell' movement to their advantage, but are also clear that these strategies are not for everyone, and require a substantial amount of resources. Their discussion on the ROI of the social media is a great contribution, and a must read for any consultant.
Perhaps not surprisingly (coming from Forrester researchers), the book offers the most to an enterprise reader who is interested in the social media trends, and needs a solid ground to evaluate both the feasibility and the strategy of their campaign.
This book rocks and is a must-read June 26, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Have you seen Jurassic Park? If so, you might remember Dr. Malcolm's (Jeff Goldblum) diatribe about the dangers of doing something just because you can:
"I'll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you're using here: it didn't require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn't earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don't take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could and before you even knew what you had you patented it and packaged it and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now you're selling it, you want to sell it!"
How does this quote relate in any way to Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff's book Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies? Maybe it's just me, but I see a direct correlation.
Groundswell is about social computing (I, a non-analyst, prefer the term social media) and how it's shaping not only the personal lives of many individuals around the globe, but also the way companies do business. It's not that social media is anything new; I've been an active participant on numerous online forums for over 10 years now. I've made money, formed close friendships, gotten jobs and learned countless things--all through different social media applications.
Lately businesses have begun to tap into 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"--to enhance customer relations, build brand loyalty and, of course, make money. These days hardly a day goes by where some company or another isn't discussing their web 2.0 strategy and taking the plunge--in most cases, "because everyone else is doing it." Or the opposite--doing nothing for fear of opening up a giant can of worms that, once released, will run rampant and ruin the company's reputation or slash profits.
The thing is, as the book aptly points out--doing it just because others are doing it or because it's possible isn't reason enough to incorporate web 2.0 applications into a business strategy. Just as bringing carnivorous dinosaurs back into existence just because it was possible without thinking about the consequences wasn't the brightest of ideas, jumping on the social media bandwagon just because everyone's doing it isn't reason enough to do it. Obviously the consequences of starting a blog, establishing a presence on Facebook or randomly beginning Tweeting are nowhere near those of setting loose a bunch of killer dinosaurs; however, the underlying concept is the same: maybe you should think about it before you do it.
The beauty of Groundswell is that it lays out in explicit detail the RIGHT way to develop a social media strategy. Forget just randomly tossing around a few ideas in a conference room then rushing back to the computer to start blogging or start a Facebook page; Groundswell provides hard data about the ways people are using social media and shows you how to develop a strategy that taps into your specific customers' behaviors and needs. Bernoff and Li go a step further than telling stories about what other companies have done; they provide a tool businesses can use to assess their own customers' social media behaviors in order to develop a strategy that taps into those individuals' behaviors and needs.
And of course, in addition to the facts and figures and case studies, Li and Bernoff give a very comprehensive overview of the groundswell technologies and how and why to use them.
In short, Groundswell is by far the best and most comprehensive book I've read about social media and I honestly think it's a must-read for anyone with even a passing interest in web 2.0. Forget Good to Great or those other yawners that every company has employees read before the annual retreat/brainstorming session; Groundswell is much more interesting, informative and pivotal to the way companies will be doing business from here on out.
Learning from your audience, customers, and community June 17, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
In this very readable book Li and Bernoff draw from extensive research at Forrester to describe what they call the Groundswell: consumers using online tools to get more information from each other, and less from traditional institutions and businesses. They offer case studies showing how organizations have readjusted their thinking to take advantage of it.
Although the groundswell trend includes social networks and related technologies, the authors say, equally important is the change in consumer behavior. Listening to (and becoming involved in) the groundswell should help your organization find out what your brand stands for; understand how buzz is shifting; save research money; increase research responsiveness; find the sources of influence in your market; manage PR crises; and generate new product and marketing ideas.
Li and Bernoff caution that there is no single `right way' to engage with the groundswell. Depending on the objectives of your company, you'll choose among the following options: listening, talking, energizing, supporting, or embracing your audience.
The authors define six kinds of online consumer behaviors. Learning which types best define your audience (or clients, or communities, or target groups) is the first step in any strategy you take to reach them. The Creators are those who publish a blog or article online, maintain a web page, or upload videos at least monthly. Critics post comments on blogs or forums, post ratings or reviews, or edit wikis. Collectors save URLs and tags on a social-bookmarking service, vote for sites on a service like Digg, or use RSS feed aggregators. Joiners maintain profiles on a social networking site like MySpace. Spectators consume what the rest produce. Inactives--nonparticipants--still remain.
Nearly one in five of online consumers in the US--18 percent--are Creators. This means that a significant chunk of six of your target audience, customers, community, etc., are blogging, uploading video, and maintaining Web sites, and quite possibly discussing your company. One in four are Critics, and nearly half are Spectators.
A timely and thorough introduction to social media June 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Groundswell is a great book providing a thorough and up to date discussion of how to use social media, and more, to connect with and energize your customers. The book approaches the discussion from the reader's objectives - listening to customers, talking to them, energizing them, empowering them - rather than from technologies or approaches. It has plenty of discussion of how to use technology like blogs, wikis, social networks, bulletin boards and more but always in the context of what you are trying to achieve. I particularly liked the way it brought in approaches not based on new technology and integrated them with the story.
The book is well written and readable - a real book not a long analyst report (despite the authors being Forrester analysts). It should also remain current for a while as it is focused on problems (and how to solve them) and opportunities (and how to exploit them) rather than on the nitty gritty of a particular technology. It's examples are truly illustrative and the authors do a nice job helping the reader place themselves in the context of the opportunity to see what will work in their organization rather than providing a one-size-fits all mandate.
If you are in marketing and have been wondering how all this social "stuff" is going to affect you and what you can do about it, this book will help. A lot.
Twenty five examples are laid out in this valuable guide June 7, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
No longer Is mass media only an outlet for those with money and corporations - with social sites such as Myspace, Youtube, and Wikipedia, the public has far more say against the corporate media. "Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies" is a guide on how companies can view this new surge of media not as a threat to their power, but an opportunity for greater success. Twenty five examples are laid out in this valuable guide, making "Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies" highly recommended for all businesses initially fearful of the Internet as a marketing tool.
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