Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) officially announces the release of the book Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (Harvard Business Press). Written by veteran Forrester analysts Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, Groundswell features 25 case studies, a complete road map for social strategy, and global data that shows businesses how to leverage the power of their customers’ Social Computing behaviors.

“Right now, your customers are writing about your products on blogs and recutting your commercials on YouTube. They’re defining you on Wikipedia and ganging up on you in social networking sites like Facebook. These are all elements of a social phenomenon — the groundswell — that has created a permanent, long-lasting shift in the way the world works,” said Li and Bernoff. “Most companies see it as a threat. You can see it as an opportunity.”

Groundswell illustrates how leading firms such as Best Buy, Dell, and Procter & Gamble are gaining insights, generating revenues, saving money, and energizing their own customers. The book includes practical advice backed up by real-world ROI for the professional roles Forrester services, not only for Marketing & Strategy professionals but across the IT organization, too.

“Forrester has extensive experience helping Marketing & Strategy professionals from some of the world’s best-known companies build Social Computing strategies. Many of the executives I meet are struggling to understand how they can take advantage of the power of social technologies,” said Forrester Chairman and Chief Executive Officer George F. Colony. “The book is a natural first stop for them and illustrates how Forrester can help the many roles within their companies take part in — and benefit from — the social trend that is the groundswell. Understanding the strategic and practical applications of social technologies is something that we are doing every day to make our clients more successful.”

Groundswell aligns with Forrester’s ongoing Social Computing research. Clients working with Forrester are using the POST (people, objectives, strategy, technology) method described in Groundswell to develop strategies for blogs, communities, social networks, and other social technologies. Forrester continues to publish research that extends the book’s concepts and now delivers consulting offerings based on Groundswell, including corporate workshops and long-term social technology strategy projects. Many of these offerings have the wealth of Forrester’s worldwide Technographics® data — which collects consumers’ social technology behaviors — at their base.

Groundswell has garnered significant praise from prepublication reviewers:

“Social technologies and their groundswell impact every business and organization worldwide,” said Steve Rubel, senior vice president, Edelman Digital. “Li and Bernoff have written an insightful book that takes a refreshing research-driven approach to helping businesses transform themselves and successfully navigate this new dynamic landscape.”

Charlene Li is a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research and is one of the leading voices in the area of Social Computing and Web 2.0. Josh Bernoff is a vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research and has become one of America’s most prominent and widely quoted technology analysts.

More information about Groundswell, including an excerpt from the book and an online tool that allows organizations to profile their customers’ Social Computing behaviors by age, country, and gender, is available at http://groundswell.forrester.com.

Groundswell is available for purchase at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, 800-CEO-READ (bulk orders only), and other major book retailers.