B.Good at Engaging the Groundswell

What would you do if you met an energetic hamburger who was eager to tell you all about its company? I personally would have to know more. Five years ago I was at a nonprofit mixer trying to recruit volunteer mentors and instead, I myself got recruited to run as part of the B.Good Burger Brigade. An enthusiastic man in a hamburger suit told me all about B.Good’s company  and how they support the community through running in races in burger suits to raise money for local charities.

Some of the 2012 Burger Brigade:

Fast forward five years later, as I was reading Li & Bernoff’s chapters nine through twelve, and thinking about the importance of embracing the groundswell to transform your company---I wondered how B.Good was doing at this. 

B.Good takes advantage of using twitter and comically ties its mission of real food in the description “tweets made by people, not factories.” As Li & Bernoff describe, “around 10 percent of all the influence spread in social networks comes from Twitter. [...] More than 70 percent of twitterers say they often tell friends about products that interest them, which is far above average” (Li & Bernoff, 2011, 200).

If you check out B.Good’s twitter and Facebook, you will notice that they regularly embrace their customers. For example, they have had contests in which customers can create a name for a seasonal item.

As Li & Bernoff highlight, “When it comes to embracing your customers, there are two things to remember. The first is that it doesn’t matter what kind of business you’re in—if you have customers, they can help you. If you’re in a consumer service business—like a restaurant chain—you can ask for suggestions, like Crédit Mutuel, or set up a private community, like Del Monte.” (Li & Bernoff, 2011, 193).

You will see that B.Good embraces customers in many ways---in addition to their creative costumer contests, if you check out their website a “Talk to Us” Section is prominently featured.  When embracing the groundswell, Li & Bernoff (2011) explain that, “The key is, you need to do more than just ask for feedback. You need to show that feedback online, good and bad, where people can see that you are ready to act on it, that you are committed to improving things.”

As you can see from the Facebook comment above, the customer has both negative (pricey/long wait) and positive (delicious food/healthy) feedback, which B.Good has out in the open for anyone to read.  

In another less positive example (above) the “disastrous service” is highlighted in the new Wellesley location. Although hard to read Li & Bernoff underscore the importance of humility, as negative feedback is valuable for making your product better. Li & Bernoff also humorously point out, “While it’s tough to put all that feedback out for everyone to see, it’s worth the risk (and face it—as we saw in chapter 1, your customers are out there dissing you in the groundswell anyway—so you might as well keep the discussion where you can see it)" (Li & Bernoff, 2011, 194). 

Getting back to the creative contests at B.Good, if you scroll through B.Good’s Facebook to January of 2017, you will notice an announcement of the Customer of the Year winner: 

As the winner, Bianca has earned  free B.Good for the rest of the year! Sounds pretty awesome, right?  Creating a contest like this is a fantastic way to engage the groundswell and get customers to market for you. Check out her video: 

 This catchy video highlights B.Good’s strong customer service; their delicious, real food; and their history/mission. This valuable information is even more powerful because it’s coming from a customer rather than B.Good. As you can see, the video ends with snap chat and Instagram testimonials about why Bianca should win, highlighting one example of how many people are now thinking about B.Good because of this contest.

B.Good's costumer of the year contest is an annual tradition. The content costumers create in promotion of B.Good is similar to Li & Bernoff’s example of how the company, Unilever had to “not only accept the Internet as a marketing vehicle, but [also] gradually give up some control of the brand, embracing the power of the groundswell and energizing consumers to make their own contributions” (Li & Bernoff, 2011, 215). Li & Bernoff further highlight, “One of the benefits we’ve seen of engaging with the groundswell is that your organization goes through a mental shift—you become so engaged with your customers that you walk in step with their needs and wants” (Li & Bernoff, 2011, 217).

How do YOU think B.Good is doing at engaging the groundswell? Are you hungry for burgers and real food made fast?