With the birth of the Internet and the rise
of social media, came a great force bringing power back to the people: the
Groundswell. Li and Bernoff (2011) 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” (Li & Bernoff,
2011, p. 9).
Webster diction defines a ground swell as “a broad deep undulation of the ocean caused by an often distant gale or seismic disturbance.” While people may be “distant” from a company, together, they become a huge force like a crashing wave. Groundswell represents a shift in power in which the people, not corporations, are in control. Ignoring the power of groundswell can break a company, yet making an effort to understand and tap into it can help companies thrive.
In a recent example, groundswell helped to punish and promote transportation companies, based on their responses to Trump's Executive order. When Trump announced an Executive Order banning Muslims from entering the United States, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance went on strike, avoiding the JFK airport in protest of the ban; Lyft donated 1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union, and Uber went on with business as usual---announcing that they were “lifting the surgeprice, which may create longer wait times."
Consumers immediately picked up on Ubers
ambivalence and started the hashtag #deleteuber. In response to the outcry of
consumers and negatively publicity, Uber made an announcement that they would
be ensuring compensation for those affected by the ban. I was intrigued and
happy to see one more example of Groundwell and consumer voices pushing for
positive corporate actions. Lyft’s actions are both doing good for the
community and building a positive relationship with consumers. In fact, days after the Executive Order Lyft ranked as the #6 free app - ahead of YouTube, Messenger, Facebook, Google Maps, Netflix, Spotify, Pinterest, Amazon, Twitter, Pandora and Uber.
How do you befriend the Groundswell?
Although technology inevitably is a defining
characteristic of social media and makes it possible for information to spread
quickly, Li & Bernoff strongly emphasize that relationships are the more
important aspect of the groundswell. Technology is always changing. As Li & Bernoff describe, “technology is
shifting so quickly—chasing it is like trying to jump on a speeding
merry-go-round” (Li & Bernoff, 2011, p.67).
So rather than put energy into learning the ever changing technology, investing energy in studying relationships will prove more
fruitful.
In the groundswell relationships are everything
(Li & Bernoff, 2011).
Li & Bernoff offer tips for
befriending the groundswell, such as POST, “the foundation of groundswell
thinking—a systematic framework for assembling your plan” (Li & Bernoff
(2011), 67).POST is an easy acronym to remember given the association with social media
“posts.” Li and Bernoff (2011) explain that POST stands for….
People. What are your customers ready for?
Objectives. What are your goals?
Strategy. How do you want relationships with
your customers to change?
Technology. What applications should you
build?
All the above are important questions to ask
when understanding and befriending the groundswell and helping your business to
thrive.
Have you used the groundswell to your advantage?
Have you used the groundswell to your advantage?
Hi Kristin,
ReplyDeleteI like how you use some recent hot issues to help us understand the effects of groundswell. Yes, social media is a helpful tool for corporations to market themselves but also can be dangerous in some way, Uber is such a proper case. Building relationship with costumers may be a common sense for corporations but it is also something they need to consider before any moves, or it may leads to negative effects, just like the #deleteuber.
Hi Yiming, thanks so much for your comment! Very true that the groundswell can be dangerous with one misstep, or it can be a great ally to your corporation if you can understand it and use it to your advantage.
DeleteIt's amazing how fast a groundswell can have a monumental impact on a company. I'm sure Lyft was delighted after seeing what happened to Uber. I'm unsure though, whether the the hashtag was a proportional response.
ReplyDeleteThe groundswell might have gotten out of hand here. If Uber turned their surge pricing off, wouldn't that decrease supply of drivers, making it harder to get to and from the airport? With surge pricing off, there's less of an incentive for drivers to go to the airport. Isn't that consistent with what the taxi union was doing. In fact, Uber probably would have made more money had they left surge pricing on. From my understanding of the situation, Uber was being severely punished for something it didn't really do.
Thanks for your comment, Sasha! That is a great point, and I initially thought the same thing, that it seemed a strong reaction to Uber's response. Uber also pointed out, as you mentioned, that lifting the surge was intended to be helpful. Part of the #deleteuber reaction was that taxi drivers wanted Uber to join their protest in solidarity and by not doing this, groundswell went wild and interpreted it as a negative stance. The other piece that I learned upon further reading is that Uber's CEO Travis Kalanick joined Trump's business advisory council. Whether right or wrong, groundwell decides and as you said acts extremely quickly!
DeleteThanks for your reply, Jing! That's great to hear that the Silicon Valley competitors have banded together to oppose the executive order. It is true how important relationships are in the groundswell since technology is constantly changing.
ReplyDelete