Use Your Resources

In my previous post (found here), I described the ideas of listening to customers using the groundswell as a major resource. I recently finished reading "Groundswell" and everything about the book was put into perspective. The final chapters describe case studies of companies using the groundswell to its advantage. I found the stories about Dove and Dell to be the most significant.

Dove, a Unilever brand, was able to tap into the groundswell successfully and used the public to help enhance its brand. It began its journey by creating a challenge on The Apprentice. The ads created by the contestants turned out badly, but Dove used this opportunity to create its own ad. The new ad created a flow of visits to Dove's website. Dove's team did not want to stop there, Rob Masters decided to create a stream of Web-based videos to promote its new product, "Dove's Calming Night." They used this new site to offer free samples to users, and this was the moment Unilever realized the potential of the groundswell.

Throughout Dove's experience, the leaders of Unilever were able to loosen their control on the company and let the groundswell work. "Groundswell" gives three elements that Unilever used to help use the groundswell to its best advantage: have a plan, take small steps that make a big impact and include leaders in the plan.

Using Dove's example, we can see that there are many things that contribute to a growing company. Utilizing the groundswell takes time and patience. Planning in advance and taking small steps to achieve the company's goals are important to make a difference. The idea of the groundswell is to let the customers take more control of the company by allowing them to share their feelings about the products. Leaders must let go of some of the control they have to allow the groundswell to work.

Dell's experience is very different from Dove's. Many customers were displeased with Dell's products and they became more displeased when Dell did nothing to help them or to improve its product. The company finally realized what was happening and started listening, which I explained in a previous post to be the most important part of the groundswell. Dell began blogging to reach out to the customers, even the higher ups in the company contributed to the blogs. They were able to let go of some control over the company and allow the groundswell to work.

Letting go of control is a very important step for companies to tap into the groundswell. This process allows customers to feel comfortable with talking to the leaders of the company because they actually care what the customer has to say.