Past Winners

Forrester Groundswell Awards: Business to Consumer North America*

The Dell Listening & Command Center

By Zocalo Group

Entry information on the Web (Listening)

The Dell Social Media Listening Command Center (LCC) connects the company to consumer conversations, elevating the brand/customer relationship via social media engagement.

In 2006, Dell, a company founded on the value of direct customer relationships, recognized the value of social media for listening to and connecting directly with customers in new ways, leveraging online social channels.

Dell soon became dedicated to enculturing social media, listening and engagement into the soul of the company. In December 2010, Dell launched the LCC, providing almost instantaneous assistance to customers in 11 languages around the world.

Dell's partnership with Radian6 provides technology to collect conversations and analyze real-time data. This information identifies conversation trends and issues, serving as an early warning and feedback system.

Social media is now knit into the fabric of the company, connecting Dell with its customers to listen, engage and act in every facet of business.

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(17 votes)
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Share Your Story: A Customer Mural

By PerkStreet Financial

Entry information on the Web (Talking)

PerkStreet Financial empowers customers to reach their financial goals by rewarding them for spending responsibly. Through a high reward debit card and a active and loyal social community, our customers are able to earn over six hundred dollars per year. We don't have physical branches and most of our customers have never had an online-only checking account, so some prospects worry this is simply too good to be true. To alleviate these fears we tapped our customers to tell their personal stories and experiences with PerkStreet.

At the login of the online banking site, we prompt users to record a short video (less than 30 seconds) leveraging technology provided by Video Genie or to send us a quote and picture. The intent is to provide social proof of the value we deliver in the unscripted words of our customers as well as instilling confidence that while we are an online institution, we believe in providing a tangible community. These testimonials now play a critical role in rotating landing pages, spreadable media and a living mural of the collected experiences of our customers.

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(247 votes)
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Carnival Cruise Lines Launches New Cruise Ship on Facebook

By Carnival Cruise Lines

Entry information on the Web (Energizing)

Carnival Cruise Lines partnered with Buddy Media to launch a Facebook presence for its newest cruise ship, the Carnival Magic, as part of a three-phase, year-long campaign to keep fans coming back and engaged.

Phase one, "Meet the Crew," was the first time a cruise line showcased their crew members on Facebook and informed guests who would be on the ship before the launch.

Phase two featured "Ask John," where Facebook Fans submitted questions about the Carnival Magic they wanted Sr. Cruise Director John Heald to answer, on video, during the Big Reveal.

Phase three was "The Big Reveal," of the new ship, which included various components:

1) Exclusive video: Short, on-demand videos to drive interest for each of the new spaces on the ship (11 in total).

2) Quiz component: A video was unveiled every 30 minutes on May 1 on Facebook. Fans were encouraged to answer a quiz about the videos. Those who scored high received a code to enter to win a seven-day cruise for four on the Carnival Magic.

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(45 votes)
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Mint.com uses Get Satisfaction social business platform to engage customers

By Mint.com (Intuit)

Entry information on the Web (Supporting)

MINT.COM is the world's leading online personal ﬁnance site, working with more than 16,000 ﬁnancial institutions while supporting 6 million customers since its launch in 2007. Mint allows customers to consolidate ﬁnancial information from all of their banking and ﬁnancial institutions and view their activities via a user-friendly dashboard. This consolidated view allows Mint customers to easily manage their net worth by tracking their spending and income, locating savings opportunities, reducing debt and managing investments.

In 2009 Mint was adding 3,000+ new users every day. The company was confronted with unprecedented growth that taxed its existing support system: a two-tiered solution consisting of self-service bulletin boards and e-mail. To maintain a high level of support and continue to maintain their customers' trust, Mint had to ﬁnd a way to scale its customer service and support.

Mint.com engaged Get Satisfaction to create a custom solution that would act as its first line of support. Working together, the teams built a robust customer community that would empower their customers to solve problems, bring out the best ideas, and drive better business.

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(215 votes)
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Ally Bank: Building a Connected Brand

By Ally Bank / iCrossing

Entry information on the Web (Embracing)

The relationship with brands, media and audiences has changed. Brands need to start acting more like publishers to engage consumers with relevant content and authentic conversation. Ally Bank, one of the world's largest financial services companies (@allybank), has undertaken a first of its kind approach to real-time content development and audience engagement that could serve as a model for the industry.

Ally has committed itself to becoming a truly connected brand through an integrated content and community strategy designed to increase search visibility, social engagement and ultimately marketing performance. They are putting their customers at the center of brand experience, and the results are compelling.

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(18 votes)
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StudySync

By BookheadEd Learning

Entry information on the Web (Social Impact)

StudySync is an innovative learning tool that connects students to the great ideas of mankind through its extensive library of classic and modern texts. Its innovative, video-based lessons model thoughtful academic discourse and support structured peer-to-peer communication.
StudySync's - rich combination of texts and visual media provides students with important academic touchstones that help build confidence and incite thoughtful, intelligent response to all types of texts, while stimulating a desire for reading.

-Research-based and teacher-tested: StudySync was designed by leading national education experts based on the most current thinking in the development of reading, writing, and critical thinking skills.
-Flexible and easy-to-use: StudySync puts the control directly in the hands of educators. This allows teachers to deliver assignments, guide student work, and make ongoing assessments based on multiple forms of feedback.
-Engages and motivates: StudySync engages students by using technology in a way that is relevant to them. It helps them build confidence and develop the reading, writing, and critical thinking skills necessary for college coursework and beyond. Its rich visuals and entertaining style convey a philosophy that "it's cool to be smart."
-Unique and distinct: StudySync offers a set of features that can be used in sequence as a complete lesson or assigned separately to supplement existing lesson plans.

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(5 votes)
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NHL GameCenter LIVE on iPad

By National Hockey League

Entry information on the Web (Mobile Application)

NHL GameCenter LIVE app on the Apple iPad is the NHL's streaming live game video subscription service that lets fans watch up to 40 weekly out-of-market game broadcasts in TV-quality, games on-demand, and over 500 classic games dating back to the 1960s, and.

This best-in-class app gives subscribers the most comprehensive access to the regular season, archived and condensed games and highlights. Custom content is created regularly around NHL signature events and news.

NHL GameCenter LIVE is specifically designed for all types of hockey fans looking for the most robust, in-game NHL viewing experience, including the more than 50% of displaced NHL fans. Serving a dual purpose, this app provides viewers with a unique experience on a device that travels where ever they go while offering fans data and stats in real-time to compliment the broadcast viewing experience.

This app also allows fans to:
- Select from live home and away broadcasts to follow their favorite team(s)
- Real-time stats, standings, player bios, and post-game highlights for all games.
- See where shots, goals, hits, penalties, occurred for the entire game, by period, for each team using the "Ice Tracker."
- View real-time game updates around the League and full season calendar.

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About Forrester

Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) is an independent research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology. Forrester works with professionals in 19 key roles at major companies providing proprietary research, customer insight, consulting, events, and peer-to-peer executive programs. For more than 27 years, Forrester has been making IT, marketing, and technology industry leaders successful every day. For more information, visit www.forrester.com.