How 'Groundswell' Helped Me With My Homework

Internal communication can boost synergy

When reading chapter 11 of Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff's Groundswell, I immediately began thinking about my graduate capstone project. For this project, my group and I partnered with a non profit organization called Road to Responsibility. They needed us to help them come up with ways to better communicate their goals to the public, but also within the organization. They were worried that not everyone within the organization clearly understood what their goals were, specifically regarding a new project. This can be a huge problem, because as the book says, "They [employees] ought to have a common goal: your company's success." (p. 216). And if the employees do not understand the company's goal, how can they fully share and achieve that goal?

When I was thinking about this dilemma for Road to Responsibility, I was thinking about what technology they can use to better communicate internally. They can use an intranet, send out e-newsletters to employees, etc, but it doesn't seem like enough, or like something people would get excited about. And then I read "...it's about relationships, not technology." (p. 226).

Road to Responsibility's mission statement

Great! Lets read on to figure out what more they can do. The book talks about the importance of listening form the top-down. Management must be willing to listen. From my experience with Road to Responsibility, the management is very willing to listen to anyone's opinion. They seem to be very open when it comes to that. The book then goes on to say the organization should "find and encourage the rebels" (p.229). Now here is something they may not already be doing. But again, they don't seem like the type of organization that stifles someones opinion if it is different than the leadership.

Finally in this chapter, the book talks about how organizational culture and relationships are more important than technology. I am pretty certain that Road to Responsibility has the correct culture and relationships with its employees to foster this already. Which leads me back to my original thoughts; what technologies can they use to better communicate internally. The book mentions blogging, and forums. Those are a couple of ideas that may just be able to help them out!  

Tesla Motors: Social Media Monitoring Part 1

Who is "Tesla" and Why is His Last Name "Motors"?

Tesla Motors logo

Nikola Tesla

Tesla Motors is a relatively new American automobile company that was founded in 2003. They got their name from Nikola Tesla who is credited for designing the modern alternating current (AC) for electricity. If you've ever been the the Museum of Science in Boston, you may have seen the giant Van de Graaff generator that they use for their lightning shows. They also make use of large Tesla Coils in the show. Since Nikola Tesla played such a large part in modern electricity, why not name an electric car company after him? That's what billionaire Elon Musk thought when founding this venture. 

Elon Musk

Elon Musk became very wealthy after co-creating PayPal, an e-commerce business that allows online transfer of money. Musk also created SpaceX, which is an aerospace company which had the first privately funded liquid-fueled rocket to reach orbit. They also were the first private company to launch a rocket into orbit and recover it, send a spacecraft to the international space station, and to put a satellite into Earth's orbit. And of course, he co-founded Tesla Motors, an all electric automobile company. 

Tesla Motors in Social Media 

Tesla Motors is a company that has the benefit of being born in the midst of the social media revolution. Back in 2003 when Tesla Motors was founded, social media was already playing a significant role in peoples lives. They realized early on that participating in social media is necessary, and so the company has used it for the entirety of its existence, which is pretty unique. It has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest.  

As you can see Tesla has nearly 400,000 likes on Facebook, with about 32,000 people talking about them. Now people "talking about this" is simply anyone who likes a post by Tesla, comments, shares, etc. Compare this with automobile giant Ford Motor Company, who has about 2.2 million likes, and you'd think that's a big difference; and it is! Tesla is a much smaller niche company than Ford is. But compare Tesla's 32,000 people talking about them to Ford's 50,000 and that tells a somewhat different story. Considering Ford has almost 5 times more likes on Facebook and therefore 5 times the audience reach, they don't have many people talking about them. It's safe to say that while Tesla's audience is smaller, they are more engaged and passionate. 

On Twitter, Tesla Motors has 216,000 followers. For consistency, we'll continue to compare them to Ford. Ford has 406,000 followers. A much smaller gap than on Facebook. And that gap may be smaller, if it weren't for Ford following about 37,000 people compared to Tesla only following 200. The reason that can make a difference is because of the Twitter community. The "If you follow me, I'll follow you" mindset. And Frankly, that's a decent way to use Twitter to expand your audience and name recognition of the product. If Tesla went around following people who follow relevant or related topics on Twitter, they could get more followers in return. Followers who may not know about Tesla Motors. 


Tesla has a good YouTube channel also, filled with high quality videos showcasing their vehicles and their achievements. Their featured video at the moment shows the company driving a couple of its cars across the country, from L.A. to New York. This is to show that an all electric car is capable of making long drives. They are able to do this thanks to Tesla Motors themselves, creating the infrastructure (building official charging stations at strategic locations) for this. So the cars can get from one charging station to the next without the battery dying.  
























 Again, comparing Tesla with 53,000 subscribers to Ford, who has around 180,000 subscribers, another pretty large gap on the face of it. But if you put it in context, it's pretty impressive. Go drive around for 15 minutes and count how many Fords you see compared to how many Tesla's you see. I bet, depending on where you live, you'd see zero Tesla's and probably 5 to 10 Fords, maybe more. So given how little of the car market Tesla has, they are competing quite well on YouTube and social media in general.

Tesla is even actively making use of Pinterest, which is impressive since many other car companies don't use Pinterest. Tesla has about 1,600 followers and 8 different image boards. 

Compare this to Ford Motor Company...

Yeah, broken image, no boards, just empty. But somehow they have about 1,500 followers. I guess they are just waiting for Ford to get with the program. 

Tesla Motors

Ford Motor Company

According to Social Mention, an online social media analytic tool, Tesla Motors has a pretty strong presence as far as being talked about. And generally pretty positive, with a 7:1 ratio positive to negative sentiment. However, Ford is ultimately crushing it both in positive ratio and social media strength.  

According to Google Trends, Tesla Motors has been on the rise in 2013 and 2014. This is probably due to their release of the Model S and increased sales. Prior to 2012, Tesla only had the $100,000+ Roadster model. Now, a family can get their hands on a base Model S for around $60,000. Obviously that has boosted sales and notoriety.    

Overall, Tesla Motors has a long way to catch up to other automotive companies like Ford in a business sense as well as name recognition and popularity. But in regard to social media savvy, and overall presence, I'd say Tesla is doing well. The difference on Pinterest is quite telling, and Ford's silence there is deafening.  

Social Media: The Erosion of Human Interaction

While Continuing my read through Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, I began to realize something. Social media may actually be making us less social! The book uses an example of a couple who is going through a tumultuous time in their pregnancy at the hospital. They found it more convenient to use social media to communicate medical news to their friends and family:

"'I hated getting calls,'Michelle told us. 'I was in the hospital, telling the same story over and over again.' Her husband, TJ, was also overburdened as he tried to juggle communications with relatives, his job at a mortgage company, supporting his wife in a hospital more than an hour from his home, and making crucial medical decisions" (p.154).

Of course given the circumstances, it would be reasonable for them to do this. The book makes it clear that they don't have the time to make personal contact with all the concerned parties. Perhaps I'm just traditional, but it seems to me that important and personal news such as that regarding a pregnancy should be communicated in an important and personal way. Updating a blog post might contain important information but its certainly not personal by definition. It is intended to be a general statement for consumption by a group, not an individual. I'm not criticizing their decision to do that, as it is obviously more convenient and less stressful to get the message out to loved ones. I'm simply pointing out that if everyone does this, then when do family members get calls? Facebook has largely taken over for holiday messages such as birthdays. Some people announce engagements and pregnancies over social media now as well. Only the immediate and closest relatives get personal calls to convey the news.

The book then proceeds to give a brief history of customer service method, specifically about call centers and their associated costs:

"Companies that do telephone support spend billions of dollars to run those call centers.
     The quest to reduce those support costs has driven two of the huge trends in America in the past ten years" (p.157).

Those two trends being outsourcing the call centers and directing people to websites for additional information. And now trends are showing that forms of social media are becoming the most common customer service method; and the cheapest. They discuss how computer company, Dell has switched to online support forums where there are official Dell staff to help people, but more often other people help individuals with problems.

"Forums work. Applications range from iRobot, which uses the to help owners of its robot vacuum cleaners solve each other's problems," (p.162).

I do agree with the main point of the chapter though! Social media is far easier, and cheaper for companies to provide customer service. Especially when other customers are doing it for you. And it can be a lot less stressful during tough times to communicate with family and friends. There is a reason why this has gained popular support among individuals and companies. My point is simply this: We should all make a conscious acknowledgment of what is occurring. Lets not say goodbye to face to face, or voice to voice interactions without realizing that they are being left behind, and recognize possible consequences of this.

Tesla Direct Sales Ban in NJ; A Marketing Opportunity?

Tesla's original "Roadster" model

Big news in the car industry is that the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission has banned Tesla Motors from continuing direct sales. This Forbes article gives a good description of what is going on. For those of you unfamiliar, here is a brief background on how the automobile industry works in the world. A car company is created. Be it Ford, Honda, Hyundai, or any other. The way they sell cars to the masses is through car dealerships. This happens when an individual in an area, like Boston, New York, or Los Angeles pays the car company for the privilege to sell their cars to the people in their given area. In other words, dealerships work as a middle-man. The dealership buys the car from the manufacturer, you buy the car from the dealership. It has been this way for decades. So now Tesla Motors comes along and says "no, we're not doing it that way." But this should be no surprise to anyone, Tesla as a company is all about leaving the traditional automobile industry behind, and embracing change, and the future. Tesla decided to have their own stores, where you and I can walk in, and purchase a car from the company directly. Imagine for a moment a world without awkward and annoying local car dealership commercials. *Queue sun rays beaming from the heavens and angelic music*

Tesla's most lucrative "Model S" sedan

Anyway, needless to say traditional car dealerships view this as a threat. If Tesla is very successful in doing it this way, maybe other car manufacturers will follow suit. Cutting out the middle man, and therefore eliminating lots of jobs. That's a fair point, however I don't believe that's what is driving this. New Jersey is the third state this has happened in. Now, maybe I've been watching too much "House of Cards" but I think there's some back-room dealings going on here. There are automotive retailer associations across the country that have significant funds. And with significant funds, comes significant power. Especially when those funds are used as either incentive or as a threat to elected officials. This can be done by offering campaign donations in future elections, or by threatening to fund an opponent. Other ways are public endorsements or personal favors.

They make cool hats too!

Now, since automobile retailers are presumably behind getting Tesla booted out of several states, I think its time Tesla takes the gloves off. Tesla, take note. First step is to find out whether the people on this commission are elected or appointed. If elected, then the following applies to each individual member who voted against Tesla. If they are appointed, the following need only apply to the elected official who appointed them, presumably the Governor (as is Chris Christie isn't in enough hot water already). Find direct links or evidence that shows or implies what has been going on. Whether it's bribes, back-room deals, whatever, even if it just looks bad, and use social media to get the word out. Find out if these individuals (or the person(s) who appointed them) have previously claimed to be pro-business and or pro-free market or for that matter, pro-American. If they have publicly said things like that in the past, then the fun begins. Tesla could then launch state-wide ad campaigns about how either the folks on the commission or the Governor has claimed to be pro-American, but here he is hindering the success of an innovative American car company. If they said they were pro-free market or pro-business, same spin applies. Because then the message is that either they are hypocrites or they are pawns of the automobile retailers and companies. Either one is not good for their public image. Tesla would do this with a media blitz, doing TV interviews, newspaper and magazine editorials, billboards, commercials, and social media. Obviously some of these are more cost-effective methods than others, but New Jersey is a pretty large car market, so it may be worth it. Especially if this is a trend across the country, which it looks like it could be. It's better to get political and fight back now, than let the trend continue and eventually run the risk of being run out of business. Of course that is assuming Tesla passionately believes it should have the freedom to sell its product to the public in a way it sees fit, and not be told by the government how they are allowed to do it.