Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies [Hardcover]

There is no question that this is the book to read if you are in a corporate environment. - 800 CEO Read's Social Media University's Reading List, August 2009

Readable and clearly argued ...Any organisation thinking of taking advantage of social networking will find plenty of food for thought.

This business strategy book is set to help people see UGC not as a threat, but an opportunity to communicate.

Every leader needs to read this book and make sure that his/her employees read it, too.

'entertaining, well- written and mercifully free from techy details'

This book is a must-read for anyone getting to grips with the impact of Web 2.0 on business.

For any businesses that have not yet ventured into the world of social media, Groundswell is an excellent guide.

Best Book in Marketing Category, Best Business Books 2008

Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff define "the groundswell" as a social structure in which technology puts power into the hands of individuals and communities, not institutions. We see examples of this all around us: Second Life, You Tube, Twitter, etc. The technology that is enabling this has created a permanent, long lasting shift in the way the world works. This compelling and research-based book will not only identify the emerging components of this shift, but will also help companies build their businesses around it, regardless of what specific new technologies come along.

The word on social computing has been out for a while. It's game changing. Books like Wikinomics begin to describe what the networked world has become. But institutions of all kinds need more than descriptive context. They need tools to navigate the shift in power that social computing and web communities have created. They need data on how their customers use and perceive new media, and guidance about what it means to their business. More than that, they need sophisticated advice that tells them how to turn this new reality to their advantage. This book provides that data and advice.

Li and Bernoff, well-known thought leaders in the area of social technology, have used their considerable resources at Forrester Research to generate hard consumer data that quantifies a viable business opportunity. Based on their work with dozens of companies presented in the book, the authors are able to credibly describe how business can participate in the new social medium in order to communicate with, energize, support, and learn from their customers. More importantly, their work offers proof that prepared organizations can reap significant financial benefits in product development, marketing, PR, sales, and customer retention. They will use their own proprietary data and additional survey research to illuminate the strategies appropriate for specific brands, media, outlets, institutions, and nations.

Corporate executives are struggling with a new trend: people using online social technologies (blogs, social networking sites, YouTube, podcasts) to discuss products and companies, write their own news, and find their own deals. This groundswell is global, it's unstoppable, it affects every industry and it's utterly foreign to the powerful companies running things now.

When consumers you've never met are rating your company's products in public forums with which you have no experience or influence, your company is vulnerable. In Groundswell, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff of Forrester, Inc. explain how to turn this threat into an opportunity.

Using tools and data straight from Forrester, you'll learn how to:

• Evaluate new social technologies as they emerge
  
• Determine how different groups of consumers are participating in social technology arenas
  
• Apply a four-step process for formulating your future strategy
  
• Build social technologies into your business including monitoring your brand value, talking with the groundswell through marketing and PR campaigns, and energizing your best customers to recruit their peers
  

Timely and insightful, this book is required reading for executives seeking to protect and strengthen their company's public image.

"Groundswell is jammed with big ideas, useful stories, and quotable stats. This is the new industrial revolution. Are you on board?"
-Seth Godin, author, Meatball Sundae

"This book will rock your world, if social technology hasn't rocked it already. It's a tsunami of unstoppable force. Amazon, Procter & Gamble, Facebook, Google, and Dell are profiting from the crest of the wave. Are you? Li and Bernoff are the apostles of the tsunami. This book will be your bible."
-Scott Cook, Founder and Chairman of the Executive Committee, Intuit

"Groundswell provides practical advice on how to stay nimble and flexible in an ever-morphing digital world. Enabling your company to respond to change quickly especially when talking to and supporting your consumers is essential for business success."
-Cathie Black, President, Hearst Magazines

"The first phase of the Internet was about getting everyone connected. In this next phase, which changes the way we work, live, play, and learn, we re starting to realize the value of those connections as well as the new communications and experiences those interactions lead to the human network. Groundswell effectively documents this shift and underscores the opportunities available to all from this major market transition."
-John T. Chambers, Chairman and CEO, Cisco

"Heed the Groundswell! It's critical reading and helped us master the new dynamics of social media."
-Christina Norman, President, MTV

"Groundswell is a comprehensive look at the tidal wave of change engulfing marketers. Nobody should attempt to engage the newly empowered and emboldened consumer without first hearing what Li and Bernoff have to say on the subject."
-Clark Kokich, CEO, Avenue A | Razorfish

"Social technologies and the groundswell impact every business and organization worldwide. Li and Bernoff have written an insightful book that takes a refreshing research-driven approach to helping businesses transform themselves and successfully navigate this new dynamic landscape."
-Steve Rubel, Senior Vice President, Edelman Digital, and columnist for Advertising Age

San Francisco-based Charlene Li is vice president at Forrester Research where her focus is on social computing and consumers. Previously, she developed interactive media for newspaper companies, and was a strategy consultant for Monitor Company.

Boston-based Josh Bernoff, a longtime Forrester vice president, created Technographics segmentation - a breakthrough classification of consumers based on how we approach technology. Josh is also known as a top TV industry analyst; he led Forrester’s research on top industry figures, their management teams, and the changes forced on the industry by devices and applications like HDTV and YouTube.