Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies | 
| Authors: Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff
Publisher: Harvard Business School Press
Category: Book
List Price: £16.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 2134
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 1422125009
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.4833
EAN: 9781422125007
ASIN: 1422125009
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Good background document September 29, 2008
Forrester Research occupy a unique position. They have access to the internet's great thinkers through briefings that they have with all the leading web service companies: Yahoo!, Google, Facebook and everyone in between. On the other side they act as a marketing consultant to a number of main street brands.
Li and Bernoff have crystalised the lessons that Forrester Research learned walking both sides of the street in the Groundswell. The book does a good job of educating the average consumer on the so called web 2.0 services and how consumers interact with them. They also provide a helicopter view about how to approach incorporating social web techniques into their business.
The most valuable part of the book is the anecdotes and case studies (some of which are from Forrester Research clients) which brings the concepts that they talk about to life. Their Social Technographics model provides a framework for segmenting audiences based on their level of interaction with web properties and communities.
 This is a "must read" September 23, 2008
Like the positive reviews above, I agree that this is a great book! I wouldn't agree with the reviewer who sites the case studies as banal - they are real world studies across a wide range of services so there's something for everyone, from those working in communications and media, through manufacturing and service delivery to health services and the public sector.
The writing style is clear, accessible and no-nonsense. I won't win any literary prises, but for this sort of book you wouldn't want anything else. One minor niggle was the formula used as the beginning of many chapters: "Fred is a (whatever) and here's his story..." - it grated a bit by the sixth or seventh time they used this device.
But that aside I can't fault it. It helps clarify one's thinking about what the social media groundswell is, and how to recognise its various manifestations, and it then goes on to give so0lid, practical suggestions for how you can adapt to and adopt the groundswell positively in your organisation.
As a companion to this I'd also recommend "Here Comes Everybody" by Clay Shirky.
Helpful Introduction to Engaging Customers through the Internet for Senior Executives September 19, 2008
Groundswell is that rare combination in a business book: Simple concepts and detailed explanations of what to do and how to evaluate the results. I especially liked the case histories that measured the economics of customer engagement.
The authors draw on their experiences at Forrester Research to show how right and wrong you can go by listening to, speaking with, engaging, providing for, and cooperating with customers. They caution starting small and feeling your way. Otherwise, you may bite off more than you are able to absorb.
For smaller companies, you'll also find suggestions of lower-cost ways to use social technologies that you can afford. Naturally, the options are more diverse and expensive for larger companies. But if you are spending a lot of time on marketing research, advertising, and promotions, you will probably find social technologies a less expensive way to go. If you have major expenses for customer support, social technologies can eliminate a lot of those. In addition, social technologies can help you gain faster insight into defects. For the lean company, these approaches will also make a lot of sense.
I liked the book so much that I included several references to it in my weekly briefing to entrepreneurs who want to build major businesses.
If, on the other hand, you are doing a lot with private communities, help forums, executive blogs, and evaluating customer observations, you won't find this book to be advanced enough for you. It's more of a beginner's guide.
Social networks and Social Technologies September 16, 2008
Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff argue a compelling, well-researched case backed up by relevant statistics about the growing importance of the so-called Social Media. They show how the rules of the game have changed and the new participatory nature of the 'Grounswell' means that enlisting clients' support through the means of forums, wikis and other online communities can make all the difference for a whole range of organizations.
A much needed and welcome addition to a field of growing relevance.
 Ground fairly good but not groundswell September 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book has one or two useful ideas: that when thinking about implementing a groundswell approach your thinking should be in the order POST (people, objectives strategy, technology) ie with technology last; the social technographics tool and/or approach.
None of the case-studies came up with any tremendous surprises and the lessons / conclusions are of the sort that would occur to a reasonably web literate person if you asked them to spend 30 mins jotting down what they thought a book on this topic would offer in that line.
To my mind the big test of any book is:- if I lost my copy would I fork out for another copy - for this book the answer's "no".
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