Today, Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) honored the six final 2010 Forrester Groundswell Award winners for excellence in effective use of social technologies to advance an organizational or business goal. Winners of the fourth annual Forrester Groundswell Awards in the International Business-to-Consumer (B2C) division were honored at Forrester’s Marketing & Strategy Forum EMEA in London. The Management, Business-to-Business (B2B), and North American Business-to-Consumer (B2C) divisions were honored in late October at Forrester’s Consumer Forum 2010 in Chicago. The Forrester Groundswell Awards support and recognize the principles outlined in the Forrester books Groundswell: Winning In A World Transformed By Social Technologies (Harvard Business Review Press, 2008) and Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, Transform Your Business (Harvard Business Review Press, 2010).

“We’re thrilled by the diversity and quality of the entries in this year’s International Forrester Groundswell Awards,” said Nate Elliott, principal analyst at Forrester. “With consumers worldwide embracing social technologies, the Groundswell is now global. The finalists and winners we’ve recognized – including local efforts on four continents and a number of truly global programs – are among the leaders in using social tools to reach and serve their customers.”

This year, there were more than 130 Forrester Groundswell Award entries. Winners in the International Business-to-Consumer (B2C) division were chosen across a number of categories – Listening, Energizing, Embracing, Talking, Supporting, and Social Impact – that represent the strategic goals that Forrester advises organizations to consider when using social technologies to interact with their customers. A detailed overview of each winning entry, along with the finalists in each category, is available on the Groundswell Web site. Here are the winners of the 2010 Forrester Groundswell Awards in the International Business-to-Consumer (B2C) division:

  • Listening: ‘Listening for Orange’ by Synthesio.
  • Energizing: ‘Microsoft Windows 7 Launch Party’ by House Party.
  • Embracing: ‘giffgaff: The Mobile Network Run By You’ by giffgaff.
  • Talking: ‘Audi A1 – The Next Big Social Thing’ by Audi AG.
  • Supporting: ‘The HP Consumer Support Forum’ by Hewlett-Packard.
  • Social Impact: ‘The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative’s Knowledge Bank’ by The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative.