Listening to the Groundswell
Presented by Stacey Evoy, Dustin Syler and Alicia
Wallis
your brand is what your
customers say it is
Marketers say they define and manage
brands
 Your brand is whatever your customer
says it is.
 The company is a tool to create value for
the brand.

what do we mean by listening
Companies listen to their customers by
market research.
 Market research very good at finding
answer to questions, but not so effective
at generating insights

◦ Syndicated research sources
◦ Surveys
◦ Focus groups
Most thoughtful people don't do
those things
listening to groundswell reveals new
insights
Groundswell is a way to observe your
customers in their natural habits.
 Analyzing activity problems:

◦ You will not hear from everyone.
◦ The people you hear from may not be
representative.
◦ Volume.
Two listening strategies
1.
2.
Set up your own personal community
Begin brand monitoring
For either strategy, you need a plan to
act on what you learn.
national comprehensive cancer
network: listening with a
private community
Communispace community is listening
machine that generates insight.
 Research information versus community
insights:

◦ Example: Doctor perceptions vs. Patients
◦ Waiting times
Research is one way, community offers
lasting value by allowing people to
converse.
the real power of listening
Own the resource that generates the
insights and you have clout.
 Popularity of private communities has
spread because they deliver actionable
insights.

mini usa: listening through
brand monitoring
Problem: How to keep brand relevant in a
year with no new models?
 Brand monitoring helped reveal:

◦ How Mini owners felt.
◦ Enable Mini to measure the effects of its own
marketing efforts by monitoring buzz before
and after.
monitoring spawns a radical idea marketing to existing customers
Mini owners see themselves as members
of an exclusive club of people who
belonged together.
 Mini USA needed to strengthen
community, which would itself go out and
proselytize others to the brand.
When online promoter activity went
up, sales went up in the following
month.

listening to the groundswell:
what it means to you
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Find out what your brand stands for.
Understand how buzz is shifting.
Save research money and increase
research responsiveness.
Find sources of influence in your market.
Manage PR crises.
Generate new product and marketing
ideas.
your listening plan
Check the Social Technographics of your
customers.
 Start small, think big.
 Make sure your listening vendor has
dedicated an experienced team to your
effort.
 Choose a senior person to interpret the
information and integrate with other
sources.

how listening will change your
organization
Likely to change the power structure of
your organization.
 Instant availability of information from
customers can become like a drug
companies can get addicted to.
 No-more-being-stupid factor.
 Listeners inevitably feel the temptation to
respond by talking within the groundswell.
