Embracing The Groundswell

 Chapters 9 and 10 of Li and Bernoff's book discuss how the strategies of listening to, talking with, energizing, and supporting the groundswell are all great ways for a brand to to establish communication with customers. This process of developing a relationship between consumers and a brand is known as embracing the groundswell, and it can be extremely useful. Consumers have opinions and feedback for every product or service they utilize, and Li and Bernoff note that "they have ideas your development people and management haven't thought of yet" — Why not take advantage of them? (p. 183). 

Some people have very strong opinions about certain brands and their products. One example of a product that has received a large amount of feedback is Keurig's K-Cup. The Keurig machine is a convenient way to brew a single serving of coffee, but in 2015, a video titled "Kill the K-Cup" went viral on YouTube to demonstrate just how harmful the so-called "convenient" plastic pods are to the environment. 

The video's description lists several eye-opening facts:

• in 2013, enough coffee pods were produced to wrap around the Equator 10 and a half times
• the pods are made of #7 plastic, which can't be recycled in most places
• they have aluminium lids which are hard to separate from the cups and recycle separately

Additionally, the video's comment section is filled with people in agreement. They are either defending their good old french press—which is equally convenient and much more sustainable—or regretting their Keurig purchase because it simply isn't worth the damage to planet Earth.

This video has over 900,000 views, and it is not the only anti-K-Cup message on the internet. Keurig had no choice but to design a product to win back their consumers... and so the My K-Cup was born. This little gadget allows users to fill the cup with their own coffee grounds, and then use the machine like normal. The cup is dishwasher safe and BPA-free, so it is a great alternative for people who don't want to get rid of their machine but want to do their part to reduce waste. If customers had not held Keurig accountable for their environmental impact, who knows how many more pods would be thrown away? 

It is clear that the internet and media play a crucial role in product/service development and feedback. One of the best forms of social media for brands to use in order to stay in touch with their consumers is Twitter. Li and Bernoff dedicate Chapter 10 of their book to understanding how the many functions of Twitter make it the perfect tool for companies. Some of the key elements of the app include hashtags, retweets, replies, and links. Furthermore, the app has a great mobile interface so it is relatively user-friendly for anyone with a smartphone (p. 198). 

Companies who have the most success on Twitter utilize all of these elements. Since energizing means "finding people who like your products or services and amplifying their voices", a simple retweet of a message about somebody enjoying your product is an easy way to spread the word (Li and Bernoff, p. 204). If a customer posts a complaint, it is easy to respond via a thread and offer support / a way to correct the problem. We see this one happen a lot with airlines: 

People enjoy the feeling of having direct communication with a company, since waiting on hold to talk to a customer service person can be time-consuming and soul-sucking. Sending a tweet to the brand you want to communicate with is an easy way to contact them, as well as tell the rest of the world about your experience (to warn them, or see if others have experienced the same). The response time and also content of the company's reply is crucial: if you hire a social media management team who is efficient, familiar with technology, and passionate about fixing problems, I guarantee your customers will appreciate it.