Don’t wait! A regime change in the US seems to be the perfect time to learn about Groundswell. Not only do we see the Groundswell in political moments (thanks Rogue NASA), but businesses have also become caught up in the political groundswell of a new era. In Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff’s book Groundswell it may astonish you what the groundswell can do! In the first chapters, you realize that you’ve seen and been part of groundswell for years, but the power of it has often been understated. For example, the famous film Snakes on a Plane lost its PG-13 rating just to put one quote in the movie that fans demanded before it hit theaters. When the majority population are adolescent boys (who with the R rating would not necessarily see the movie), you realize just how intense the groundswell is.
One of the things I found most interesting in the first four chapters was understanding the demographics of the groundswell, and what ways they interact with the groundswell. I had never thought of all of the ways that I personally interact with companies, but after reading about creators,conversationalists, collectors, critics, joiners, spectators, and inactives, it made a lot of sense. It got me thinking about why certain companies become prone to certain groundswell actions.
One groundswell action that currently got me thinking was Uber versus its joiners. Uber is a taxi service that allows people to drive on their own time, and gives riders options about the way they ride (carpool, XL car, nicer car, etc.). They have been one of the most popular ride services, Uber has pretty much always been well supported and prosperous. That is until the CEO of Uber Travis Kalanick agreed to be part of Donald Trump’s Business Advisory Council. Oh, and while Taxis were on strike for an hour while anti travel ban protests happened at the JFK airport, Uber agreed to take anyone, free of surge prices. What Kalanick saw as a move to help Trump with his labor plans, the public saw as a direct support of Donald Trump. This, in turn, led to a country wide boycott and 200,000
people deleting their Uber apps in just a couple of
days. If you’ve read groundswell, I bet
you can guess where this is going. Yes, Kalanick pulled
out of Trump’s Business Council because it was so bad for his own business.
No matter what side of this story you are on, you gotta admit it, the groundswell is impressive. Uber seems to have understood that they must recognize and cater to their customers. For Uber, this means even though they have very little ability to attract creators, collectors, or other more involved customers, their joiners can still have a say in their decisions. Interestingly enough, Li and Bernoff may have seen this coming. According to them, Democrat leaning people are more likely to interact with companies in every way more than Republican leaning people so, the odds for Uber was not in their favor. Beyond that, young people are more likely to be involved in every aspect of groundswell as well. As young people are more likely to lean democrat, Uber has a double whammy against them when it comes to openly supporting a conservative republican president. Whether it’s right or wrong, it looks like Uber could have thought a little more about how Kalanick’s choices would affect the support of their young, democratic customers.
Nikala,
ReplyDeleteI like how you tied in recent political events with the books teachings- that shows great synthesis of the books key topics with real world current events. Many people saw what Uber did during the travel ban as a direct political move. However, I have to admit that my first thought was about business. If I was the head of a company, whose competition was on strike, I think it would be hard not to capitalize on the abundant need. Furthermore, I think by not charging surge pricing Uber was also making a nod to the strikers in their own way-- by making it easier on the strikers (and other members of the public) wallets to go to and from the strike. For me, the only area of concern is that Uber had ties to Trump, and I think that having a connection with the person people are striking against is the soul reason that people went into an uproar. I think this issue was a perfect textbook example of the sensitivity that surrounds political movements/strikes.
Nikala, I really enjoyed reading your post! I had no idea that many people deleted the Uber app (although, I can believe it). The fact that the joiners had the power to get the CEO to cut ties, really shows their power and the groundswell at work. I think it was great that you talked about the different types of people, and attributed the change to being the joiners. Uber honestly should recognize this and use this to help them build their company even more.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post and think you did a great job of highlighting many key concepts. In my blog post I also wrote about Uber and thought it was a great example of groundswell in action. I thought it was interesting that Lyft donated to ACLU during the same time, which made them appealing to their consumers. I like your point about the Uber audience and the tendency for Democrat leaning people to interact more with companies as Li & Bernoff highlighted. I also agree, Groundswell is impressive!
ReplyDeleteNikala,
ReplyDeleteI agree Uber bad, so very sad - to use the Trump sentence structure. It is unfortunate that Uber, a company that relies on relationship would make such a horrendous error in judgment. The response is not shocking given that younger people lean, as you mentioned, liberal and open minded. Wonder what was going through his mind? is this the end of Uber?
Hi Sharmarke,
DeleteHonestly I do not entirely dislike Uber still, and here is why: If you are looking at the Trump administration, and you are as horrified as I am, one of the big issues is the lack of educated rational people within his advisers. I think some people of power potentially attempt to influence the president, knowing they may have some ability to soften his decisions. I don't know if this is a better idea than shutting him out entirely, but I suppose it depends on which idea you think will actually make the most impact. Is this why Kalanick made his decision? I'm not sure, but I'm just trying to get inside business leaders' heads.
Hi Nikala,
ReplyDeleteWow, I think it is not so wise for business to pick a political side, publicly. Since you have no idea how many consumers of yours are on the other side, taking a side will definitely have some effects on your business.
I do like the way you analyze it. Well done!