The Groundswell, Spilling the (Chai) Tea (Latte)

Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, from Forrester Research, immaculately bring out the nuances of the groundswell. In chapter 1, they emphasize that the world has changed due to social technologies and it is an irreversible change. “It’s a completely different way for people to relate to companies and each other”. Still #shook from the paradigm shift? Keep reading to delve deeper into the groundswell phenomenon.

There is no escaping the groundswell. In chapter 3, we see the diagram of the Social Technographics Profiles – how we are all part of the groundswell ladder. We belong to one of the groups (in fact, the text mentions how a consumer only needs to participate in one of the activities at least monthly and they’re part of the group) 

To understand the groundswell in context, let’s #SpillTheTea or spill the Iced Chai Tea Latte with soymilk, extra ice, no sugar, two (and a half) pumps of vanilla. Or a Trenta, no foam, 5 shot, half calf, no foam, pumpkin spice latte with no foam at 210 degrees. 

I mean, let’s look at the text in relation with a very popular example – Starbucks. According to the authors, “You cannot ignore this trend. You cannot sit this one out. The groundswell trend is unstoppable, and your customers are there”. Interestingly, this article on The Wise Marketer explains how Starbucks decided last year to build relationships with customers who are not part of Starbucks Rewards. And this, in turn, increased the membership to Starbucks rewards, by 11%, pretty smart, huh? According to the text, it’s the perfect way to embrace customers or integrate them into the way business works. 

Also, check out their #MorningYes Campaign video (only 30 seconds, but worth a watch) 

No matter how overwhelming the groundswell may seem, it’s crucial to understand it. Our authors tell us how the only way to thrive in it is to develop an understanding of how it works. A metaphor that I found to be very apt was of jujitsu and how in this martial arts form, we really have to know how bodies move. In the case of the groundswell, "concentrate on the relationships and not the technologies", we will have mastered groundswell thinking. And we will have gotten a step closer to world domination, sounds like a win-win to me. 

The acronym POST conceptualizes the process to tap into the groundswell: 

·     Access your customers’ social activities 

·     Decide what you want to accomplish 

·     Plan how your relationship will evolve

·     Decide which technologies to use 

There you go, you are a groundswell expert now! Go and thrive in the socially connected world. Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff acknowledge that things will go wrong. But this is what they say to that; “Go back to POST, because diagnosing how something is going wrong is the first step to fixing it”

Thank you for tuning into this week’s update on Simrants (Social Media Edition) 

As always, hope you all are having the best day!

Simran 

The Guide to the Perfect Fake-ation

On July 3^rd, 2019, I was at my summer internship, I was ready to post a photo of the salad I had just ordered for lunch. Dried fig, purple cabbage and lemon dressing, it was perfect for my Instagram story. But if you’re part of the #InstaFam, you know that Instagram was down that day. The whole platform was glitching in more ways than one. This is embarrassing, but my first instinct was to rant about Instagram being down, on Instagram, and I couldn’t (so frustrating!) 

So, let’s get on a topic that has been popular among youtubers, the infamous trend, to trick their subscribers into believing that they took a vacation. While IRL (in real life), they were really in their hometown staging this charade. A lot of the youtubers explained how they started this trend to show the world how easy it is to lie on social media. Whether it’s a picture of a photoshopped boarding pass or the quintessential mirror selfie of their airport outfit, this stuff is believable. They’re in front of the Arc de Triomphe or La Concha Beach when they’re actually in their bedroom or neighborhood coffeeshop and just really skilled with Photoshop. 

As/Is is a popular style brand from Buzzfeed. In March of this year, Jazzmyne Jay and Lindsay Webster posted a video about faking a vacation to London. They engaged in a plethora of tips and tricks to trick their followers into believing that they had actually made this trip. It takes effort to make a point! But yes, this further accentuates that it takes effort, but you can really manipulate people (if you want to) 

Mostly, what we see on social media is hardly a reflection of reality. We only ever see the good parts of people’s lives. No one is going to post something like “Lost my baggage in transit #TravelDiaries” or “My fiancé overslept and missed all our walking tours #CoupleGoals” 

We probably see a selfie with a pina colada on the beach. These deceptive things lead us to assume that these people live such glamorous lives. Without a doubt, social media is such a great resource we have at our fingertips. The key here being, if we know how to use it. 

Social Media can be an amazing platform (legit!), to grow businesses, to connect with people, to look up educational information and to even share your talents. So, let’s make it a safe place to do so, free of fake lives and hypocrisy and worst of all, hate! Let's briefly make a reference to this article on Entrepreneur that talks about the dilemma of modern life -- performing well in life, being present and being YOURSELF.

In a nutshell, let’s commit to making social media a safe and fun place for all of us, or atleast try our best. Keep it real #InstaFam. Signing off with a quote from our book Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies "As powerful as it is, it's the technology in the hands of almost-always-connected people that makes it so powerful"

Will talk to you all in the next update from Simrants (Social Media Edition) 

Hope you all are having the best day! 

Simran 

References (out of habit)

Li, C. (2010). Groundswell. Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies. Strategic Direction, 26(8). doi: 10.1108/sd.2010.05626hae.002As/Is. (2019, March 30). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVNJdrQCxKU&t=252s

Deutsch, B. (2018, April 19). Why Everyone and Everything on Social Media Is Fake. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/311421Deutsch, B. (2018, April 19). Why Everyone and Everything on Social Media Is Fake. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/311421

As/Is. (2019, March 30). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVNJdrQCxKU&t=252sLi, C. (2010). Groundswell. Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies. Strategic Direction, 26(8). doi: 10.1108/sd.2010.05626hae.002