Social Maturity is a Wild Ride

Chapter 13 Li and Bernoff's book Groundswell discuss the ways that a company matures through its use of social applications. By incorporating a Facebook page, a Twitter feed, or a YouTube channel, brands are able to connect with customers and promote their products & services much more successfully. However, these same socials can cause trouble if not handled properly. By utilizing social media, you open your company up to negative exposure, organizational chaos, and a lack of ability to regulate what happens once you post something new. 

Li and Bernoff measure a brand's progress and ability to handle the previously mentioned challenges by analyzing the following six dimensions: experience, resources & organization, process, measurement, commitment, and culture (2011, p. 257). They have also created a 5-part model that demonstrates a brand's social maturity based on their use of social applications.

Stages of Social Maturity

To discuss the stages of social maturity, I've selected a brand we all know and love: Uber. Whether you're snagging a ride to the train station or a ride home from the bar, the whole process is easy and great when you've got no other option. A car can be ordered right from your phone and will be there in (usually) ten minutes or less.

Uber has not always had such a large presence in the media. It originated as a basic idea in December 2009: two friends, frustrated that they couldn't hail a cab in the midst of a snowstorm, wondered, "what if you could call a cab right from your phone?" and there, UberCab was born. Within months, the second half of the name was dropped and Uber has since become a household name. It's so popular at this point that "Uber" has become a part of speech, like BandAid or Kleenex—"Do you need a ride?" "No thanks, I'm gonna Uber home". 

In its early stages, Uber would be classified as dormant (meaning that no social activity is occurring) (Li & Bernoff, 2011, p. 259). As a fresh idea with no development, no plans have been put in place to market it. This is not where any company wants to be, since so much of marketing nowadays takes place in the groundswell.

The next stage is the testing stage, which is when social applications are implemented but not well-organized (Li & Bernoff, 2011, p. 261). Maybe an Instagram page with only a few thousand followers, or a Twitter feed that isn't really active. The attempt is there, but it is not utilizing the applications to their full potential. The third stage is coordinating, which Li and Bernoff say is characterized by "swagger" (2011, p. 263). A brand in stage three is noticeably confident in their brand, and it's paying off. From here, we make the leap to stage four: scaling and optimizing. Studies show that only about 20 percent of large companies in the US have reached this stage. For these brands, organization is well-managed and PR is handled with ease. I would say Uber is a solid fourth-stage brand, judging by how they have handled the past six months.

Not surprisingly, the brand was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ideas that Uber typically promotes—travel, exploring, and new opportunities—would appear quite tone deaf if marketed in the current social climate. Furthermore, the company was receiving some serious flack within the groundswell because despite their "strict" mask-wearing policy, many people were complaining that their drivers were not following the rules. The company had to seriously change its marketing strategy in order to stay afloat and gain some respect back from its frustrated customers. Now, in an ironic twist of events, Uber is actually encouraging people not to use its ride service:

click to watch the campaign video on Facebook:

The brand's commitment to health and safety, despite financial losses as a company, says a lot about its values. It would be easy enough to continue promoting use of the brand (just as long as you wear a mask!) but instead, Uber is strategizing and investing in a longer-term payout. Hopefully these actions demonstrate the company's strong morals and win over it's customers.

Since many restaurants closed due to the virus and grocery stores are now a cesspool of germs, Uber has been able to focus its efforts elsewhere: the brand has a second aspect called Uber Eats which pairs users with a driver who will pick up their takeout order and deliver it directly to their door.

Mobile delivery orders have skyrocketed during quarantine, and Uber Eats' gross revenue increased 113% compared to last year. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshani notes that "The COVID crisis has moved delivery from a luxury to a  utility", and Uber is happy to help out. The company is also in the process of sealing the deal to purchase Postmates for a whopping 2.65 billion dollars — things will be official in Q1 of 2021. The Postmates app will still operate separately, but it will have access to a combined merchant & delivery network with Uber Eats. This will mean more options for customers and more efficient delivery stops for drivers of both brands.

I do think that Uber has some work to do before it can reach the fifth and final stage, empowerment, but they do have a strong social media presence (specifically on Facebook) where they facilitate customer service inquiries and complaints. When considering the future of the groundswell, as Li and Bernoff do in chapter 14 of their book, it's hard to even predict what an "empowered" brand will look like because social media technology is evolving and changing every day. The advice they give is to "never forget that the groundswell is about person-to-person activity... be a good listener... [and] be patient" (2011, p. 280). In the case of Uber, it seems like employees will be a key aspect of the company's success because there have been consistent complaints from the Uber-employed drivers about how they feel exploited. The entire premise of the company is built on drivers providing their time and effort, so they are the limiting factor in the business model. Listening to them and keeping them happy is vital.