What the Heck is the Groundswell and Why Care About It?

         The following is my first assignment in my new Master's Degree program class: 21st Century Technologies focusing on the book Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies.

Enjoy!

-CJ

         The beginning of this book "Groundswell" engages the reader by starting with a brief yet extensive summary of a blog post that was submitted  to Digg.com, a website I have only been familiar with since last year, even though it was created prior to late- 2007. The first thing the authors do is captivate the reader by speaking about a socially moderated site that many of us techno saavy folks know. This example gives a great idea to the reader as to what exactly, the Groundswell is.

         Furthermore, it explains what the Groundswell is and how it relates to consumers, advertisers, sponsors, and media. Li and Bernoff define the Groundswell as "A social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations." In other [economically] (if this word fits) words, we, as mass consumers have begun to search outside of the storefront to purchase items that we desire. As an example, my lady wanted to get the kid a chopper bicycle. Instead of going to the Walmart store immediately, she researched online and got the best price-match cost and then went to the store to purchase the bicycle. 

          As the book states the Groundswell comes from the collision of three forces: people, technology and economics

1. People: people have always depended and drawn strength from one another; and have always and consistently rebelled against institutional power using forces as pickets, Unions, Boards, etc
2. Nearly everyone is online: 79% of Americans and 69% of Europeans (2010)
3. Revenue is online. Why have shelves stocked if there are an infinite number of possibilities online? (Forrester, 2011)

It’s the technology in the hands of people that have the capability to make it [the Groundswell] so powerful!

It’s not even necessary to sell ads—you can sign your site up for Google AdSense and let Google sell the ads for you and share the cash (Li, p.11). This is something I currently struggle with as I have been working with the owner of a new Locksmith business.  The owner wants to use Google AdSense, while I am pushing (poking the bear so-to-speak) to keep an in-house (IMC Specialist) Advertiser/Marketer.  The argument is that keeping me on as an Independent Consultant is not only cheaper, but may be more profitable for the company as it allows for quite a bit more personal connection with the investors. This also includes potential consumers giving the reassuring feeling of a hometown business and stability of a physical location that can be entered un-obstructed.

The Groundswell extends all circumferences of the social networking realm, from Amazon.com, to Craigslist, to Wordpress, Flicker, Youtube, Twitter and Google+; all the way back prior to MySpace to where Linux began.  It encompasses three items: People, Technology, and Economics. This social trend requires that there be masses of people capable and willing to utilize different modes of technology to reach an end, the technology to maintain the demand and the technology must be able to expand easily and expeditiously. Lastly, it involves money. Revenue is the bi-product of a large group of people interested in either purchase power, publicity, or expansion.

This all leads up to why we should care about the Groundswell. It’s pretty simple really. Economics! In 2004, Advertisers maxed revenue at $23.3 Billion in the United States alone, and an additional €10.7 Billion across Europe. This explains why storefront advertising has and continues to decline and why more and more consumers are swarming to other forms of technology to obtain what they are looking for. Be it purchasing items, social research, recognition or as benign as filling a bored void in their life.

General Motors Corp. Vice-Chairman of Product Development, Bob Lutz learned real quick how the Groundswell worked. As stocks plummeted and favourship of the consumer and investor dwindled he thought of something innovative to gain the rapport back with the general public: “FastLane” (a social blog). Creating this blog did not make GM’s financial status change, however what it did do was open up one more channel that has become the primary form of instant communication with GM.

It is important to know what the Groundswell is and how it works because in the 21^st Century world of business and social moderation a person can be lost in the sea of Fast-line economics and be left behind as the world has and becomes more web-oriented and ecommerce-centric. If that person has focused their career solely on direct-Marketing and print Marketing and is seeing a decline in their net assets, understanding the Groundswell  and all that envelops it, can help them make a proportionate transition into “e” business, thus giving them a 180 in their career. Having an understanding of this social trend also can assist business and consultants in judging their best options when it comes to marketing and advertising which in turn will open up many more options to explore.


Li, Charlene, Bernoff, Josh (2011). Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social
                 Technologies. Boston, Mass. Forrester Research, Inc.