Size Does Not Matter

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Charles Darwin once said:  “It is not the strongest of the species that survives.  It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”  After reading chapter nine in the book Groundswell I believe a similar analogy can be applied to companies using social media. 

I think it’s accurate to say that it’s not the biggest companies that survive, but the fastest to adapt to the growing social media environment.  Company's size does not matter to benefit from Social Media.  Not long ago it used to be said that big companies would take over smaller ones.  Not anymore.   Just see what has happened to former giants AOL or MySpace for failing to listen to the groundswell and properly anticipate their competitors.  Even monstrous Walmart has been slow to react to the buzz about accusations it exploits workers and damages local business.

A joke illustrates a point made by this chapter. Once two explorers in Africa heard the ferocious roar of an approaching lion.  One explorer quickly starts putting on running shoes. “You must be crazy if you think you can outrun a Lion” says the second explorer. “I don’t need to outrun the lion” responded the first explorer, “I just have to run faster than you.”  

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Companies might frequently face  dangers such as consumers’ complaints and questions, but when they embrace the groundswell, they can move more quickly and be more successful that those that ignore consumers.

This chapter goes on to explain that properly embracing the groundswell can turn negative opinion into a passionate support for the company, helping companies spring back from adversity and adapt to new challenges, but only if the company can sincerely demonstrate that it appreciates what its customers say.  “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend,” once said Martin Luther King. In the following video you will be surprised with the reaction of a fierce lion when it's reunited in Colombia with Ana Julia Torres, a woman who saved his life after the lion had escaped from a circus. It made me reflect that wild animals and angry customers can react positively to kindness and sincerity.

Love Changes Attitudes  

In chapter 10 the book explains how connecting with the groundswell can gradually transform any company. It explains that most consumers are willing to talk to companies and say what they want, and frequently they have the knowledge, experience and solutions to solve problems and improve service.  I am living proof of that widely used strategy.  Having spent only one year in Worcester, I have been interviewed and surveyed several times by a variety of industries, from supermarket chains to radio stations.

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This section of the book presents several companies, including two I used to work for, to illustrate the importance for companies' survival to really listen to the Groundswell and emphasize the convenience of showing feedback online, so customers can see that the companies are responsive.  This reminded me a quote from Jack Welch, former GE's CEO; “The desire, and the ability, of an organization to continuously learn from any ... learning into action - is its ultimate competitive advantage."

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In conclusion, size of companies is irrelevant when it has to do with learning to benefit from the groundswell.  What is important for their survival is listening to the groundswell and learning to adapt.  Feedback from customers can help companies from designing products to anticipate problems.

On Valentine's Day, Give Me a Hug, Not an Email

Most people would agree that the Social Media has changed the way we live our lives and the way we relate to others.  Many might say that thanks to Social Media they have more friends.  But to me, more contacts do not necessarily mean more friends. 

In my opinion, personal relations are being negatively affected by the excessive use of technological devices in detriment of personal relationships.  I cannot feel as friends people whose faces I don't know, whose profiles I fear might contain many lies.  Many “likes” can never replace a direct compliment.  Many emails cannot have the same encouraging effect of seeing people’s smiles.  Text messages cannot give me the comfort of holding a friend’s hand.  Perhaps it’s because I come from a very collective culture.

I feel that time that used to be spent talking on the phone or visiting relatives has been replaced with the more common and impersonal texting and instant messaging.  It is evident Facebook or Twitter interferes with many people’s personal relations and even job performance.  People spend several hours a day online, surfing from site to site without a specific purpose.  And I later see the same people complain of not having time to help their children with their homework, visit sick friends or eat with older relatives.

Many of my friends go out and instead of enjoying each other’s companion they constantly check their smart phones and worry if several minutes past before their chat is responded.  What happened to the old fashion but still nice conversation over dinner?  I do not understand how many people can be satisfied to wish a happy birthday with an email instead of giving a warm hug and sharing a piece of cake.  I fondly remember the enjoyment of going out to with a movie or for ice cream, without fearing an interruption from a smartphone or tablet.

Many of classmates cannot stop texting, even in classrooms or while driving, in spite of the risks of flunking the class, getting a traffic ticket or being killed in an accident.

A recent study classifies internet addiction among the top five addictions in America (http://addictnation.org/top-5-addictions-in-the-u-s). 

Internet addiction has caused many divorces.  Facebook has been reported to negatively affect personal relationships.  I like Facebook, but I would not depend on it to keep in touch with friends and family. 

A website called Retrevo reported that half of the people surveyed update their Facebook or Twitter status during the night or first thing in the morning.  About one third of iPhone users confessed to checking these sites before they even got out of bed.

I hope I learn to use and benefit from Social Media.  I agree that many technological changes are good.  That’s why I enrolled in this class.  I want to be an active part of the new world.  In class we have learned the versatility of smart phones and other technological devices to catapult our careers.   But too much of a good thing can also be bad.  I hope when I complete this class I will receive a kiss on the cheek or pat on the back instead of an email or a text message.

Power to the People

With the phrase "Power to the People" I am not referring neither to the Civil Rights Movement nor John Lennon's song.  I am referring to the influence people have in determining the way the companies are acting and developing.

Many years ago I bought a Volkswagen.  Since the day I started driving that car I started to notice the many Volkswagen that were circulating in my city.  They had been around me but I just never acknowledged their existence.   Something similar happened to me when I started reading Groundswell. 

When the book started to describe the power of customers and ordinary people, and how important it is for the survival of companies and entire industries to start listening and acting on the groundswell, I have starting to notice all the activities that have surrounded me and affected the whole world with the growth of Social Media.  Many of today’s greatest jobs did not exist five years ago, such as Social Media Managers, Bloggers, Online Advertising Executives, User Experience Analysts or Video Journalists.  I used to work in Procter & Gamble and Unilever for close to two decades.  Both companies report that close to 75% of current sales come from products that did not exist 10 years ago.

I frequently see that one or two people rapidly can reach audiences of a magnitude that were reachable before only through large expenditures of money or with advertisements during the Super Bowl.  But ordinary people do it more effectively and usually have larger and longer impact.  A few years ago the word “viral” only referred to communicable diseases.  Now I hear it frequently to indicate how ordinary people have been able to reach millions very rapidly.  For example, just last week I read how an ordinary house wife in a small New York town sent an email to 20 friends to help save a failing business.  The word spread quickly and that week they formed a "cash mob" that went into the tiny store to buy everything from children's blocks to yarn for knitting sweaters.  The store owner said that cash infusion will help the store survive through the slow winter months.

Although I have worked in sales during the last two decades, the book helped me realize that companies are trying to benefit from the groundswell.  I particularly liked what I suspect was a undercover effort by Kmart.  During last Christmas, at Kmart stores across the country anonymous donors paid off strangers' layaway accounts, bought Christmas gifts other families couldn't afford, especially toys and children's clothes set aside by impoverished parents.  Kmart representatives said they did nothing to instigate the secret Santa’s or spread word of the generosity. But it happened as the company was forced to close several stores and continues to struggle against Walmart and Target.  This evidences how creative and different the companies have to act to adapt to the expansion of Social Media.

I particularly liked the simile the book makes with martial arts the effort the companies make to adapt and benefit from the groundswell.  Companies cannot fight the strength of public opinion and the spread of Social Media; they can use the groundswell to impulse and strengthen their images and brands.

Do You Know The Meaning of the Verb “Rosinesing”..?

A new verb has been born in my home country of Venezuela thanks to Twitter.  “Rosinesing” means posing with a collection of items in front of your face.  It was inspired by a photo posted on Instagram by the youngest daughter of the current president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez.  Her photo has gone viral in many blogging sites including Tumblr, Facebook and Flickr.

The photo shows Chavez’s daughter holding a large amount of dollar bills.  That pictured has angered me and many other Venezuelans.  The reason for all that scandal about a photo of a 14-year old girl is the fact that since 2003, Chávez imposed currency exchange controls that limit Venezuelans to buy a maximum of US dollars 3,000 a year in foreign currency.  The amount may be less, depending on the duration of the trip and the destiny.  Any amount of foreign currency sold to companies or individuals is subject to the approval of the government, and the government even limits in what can be spent.  Ordinary people, who don't receive approval to buy dollars at the official fixed rate, usually end up buying dollars on the black market at nearly three times the official rate and with the risk of being fined and/or incarcerated by the government or losing their money to corrupt or unscrupulous intermediaries.

People in Venezuela have being posting their own satiric versions of the Rosines’ picture by substituting the dollars for cooking oil, coffee, sugar, milk and other staples that have been scarce in Venezuela for years.  That’s were the new verb was coined.  This graphic sarcasm also demonstrates why Venezuela is ranked as the world’s most indulgent country, according to Geert Hoefstede's book.  Indulgence describes a society that allows relatively free gratification of basic and natural human drives related to enjoying life and having fun, even during harsh times.

The groundswell created by Rosines’ photo evidences that Twitter and other social media can amplify a message to reach a massive audience and once the message has been public there is no way to take it back.  If you don’t believe me, ask Barbara Streisand.  I read somewhere that life is like Twitter: No one can control what people say and do.  One can only hope people follow or unfollow. 

Even with all their power and money, the Chavez have not been able to silence the thousands of people publishing anything they like online all of the time.  Chavez has tried to control this social media mini-revolution, calling Twitter, the Internet, and text-messaging as forms of terrorism.  A Facebook group called "Chavez esta pochao!" ("Chavez, you struck out!") has nearly 50,000 members. 

Marisabel Rodríguez, Rosinés' mother and Chávez's second wife, said in her own Twitter that Rosines’ mistake wasn’t to take the picture, but rather posting it.  Just yesterday Rosiness blogged and twitted a response to all the critics she and her family has received.  Her Instagram feed has been made private.