Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social...

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 224 pages
• Published by: Harvard Business School Press April 21, 2008
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1422125009
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1422125007
• Book Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Weighs: 1.4 pounds

Product Review
you can't control users looking to utilize Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, wikis and social networks CIOs and other business leaders must embrace these technologies in the enterprise, and enable their employees to share and work collectively with each other to foster new innovations. --CIO Magazine, April 16, 2008

Product Description
Corporate executives are struggling with a new trend: people using online social technologies (blogs, social networking sites, YouTube, podcasts) to discuss products and companies, write their own news, and find their own deals. This groundswell is global, it s unstoppable, it affects every industry and it s utterly foreign to the powerful companies running things now.

When consumers you ve never met are rating your company s products in public forums with which you have no experience or influence, your company is vulnerable. In Groundswell, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff of Forrester, Inc. explain how to turn this threat into an opportunity.

Using tools and data straight from Forrester, you ll learn how to:

-Evaluate new social technologies as they emerge

-Determine how different groups of consumers are participating in social technology arenas

-Apply a four-step process for formulating your future strategy

-Build social technologies into your business including monitoring your brand value, talking with the groundswell through marketing and PR campaigns, and energizing your best customers to recruit their peers

Timely and insightful, this book is required reading for executives seeking to protect and strengthen their company s public image.

"Groundswell is jammed with big ideas, useful stories, and quotable stats. This is the new industrial revolution. Are you on board?"

-Seth Godin, author, Meatball Sundae

"This book will rock your world, if social technology hasn't rocked it already. It's a tsunami of unstoppable force. Amazon, Procter & Gamble, Facebook, Google, and Dell are profiting from the crest of the wave. Are you? Li and Bernoff are the apostles of the tsunami. This book will be your bible."

-Scott Cook, Founder and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Intuit

Groundswell provides practical advice on how to stay nimble and flexible in an ever-morphing digital world. Enabling your company to respond to change quickly especially when talking to and supporting your consumers is essential for business success.

-Cathie Black, President, Hearst Magazines

"The first phase of the Internet was about getting everyone connected. In this next phase, which changes the way we work, live, play, and learn, we re starting to realize the value of those connections as well as the new communications and experiences those interactions lead to the human network. Groundswell effectively documents this shift and underscores the opportunities available to all from this major market transition."

-John T. Chambers, Chairman and CEO, Cisco

"Heed the Groundswell! It's critical reading and helped us master the new dynamics of social media."

-Christina Norman, President, MTV

"Groundswell is a comprehensive look at the tidal wave of change engulfing marketers. Nobody should attempt to engage the newly empowered and emboldened consumer without first hearing what Li and Bernoff have to say on the subject."

-Clark Kokich, CEO, Avenue A | Razorfish

"Social technologies and the groundswell impact every business and organization worldwide. Li and Bernoff have written an insightful book that takes a refreshing research-driven approach to helping businesses transform themselves and successfully navigate this new dynamic landscape."

-Steve Rubel, Senior Vice President, Edelman Digital, and columnist for Advertising Age

Reader Reviews
The authors define a Groundswell as "a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions". This book demonstrates through quantifiable research that the market is indeed changing (as if we didn't know that) and they show you exactly how you can leverage those changes in your favor. Using very easy to understand and enjoyable to read language the authors walk you through multiple case studies that not only identify key concepts, but demonstrate exactly how you can use them in your business. I think one of the most intersting things about this book is that it doesn't focus on the fringe, it focuses on the meaty middle. What I mean by that is that they don't try and demonstrate how much they know about things you've never heard about, they focus on showing you how to use the tools that work today. I think that this book is a must read for any marketer who is scratching their head and wondering where their ad dollars should go or wondering how to get a handle on online social media. I had multiple ah-ha moments while reading this book. Dave Lakhani Subliminal Persuasion: Influence & Marketing Secrets They Don't Want You To Know Persuasion: The Art of Getting What You Want Comment | | (Report this)