I can’t last an hour in a mall.  I’ve never really “shopped” without a mission to fill a specific (perceived) hole among my material goods.  And the only coupon I can ever remember using was an online discount at last Sunday’s golf course.  I’m oddly proud of all of those facts, and so it pains me to report that Groupon may be the most perfect example of everything CEC has uncovered about succeeding in today’s networked environment.

I assume most are familiar with Groupon’s mechanics: subscribers receive a daily e-mail offering a discount at a local retailer, restaurant, or service provider.  The site shows a minimum number of purchase commitments required by the merchant and a running tally of how many have been made.  Once the minimum threshold is reached, the deal “tips” and the transactions are processed (98% of deals tip).  Merchants acquire new customers, subscribers get a discount, and Groupon takes a cut off the deal.

I never got the appeal as a consumer, but as an observer of business trends, I’m paying much closer attention to Groupon now based on its alignment with CEC’s most recent best practices.

Over the last few weeks, you may have read a lot on this blog about the importance of emotional connections.  Indeed, CEC’s most recent research suggests that it’s the only way to get an audience to endorse and spread your message.  That same study suggests three “stages” to the development of emotionally resonant content:  1) understanding stakeholder values, 2) getting stakeholders to discover your message on their own, and 3) enabling them to feel cool, smart, and/or helpful by spreading your message.

It sounds like a rather involved process, which is why I find it so amazing how Groupon manages to do all three with a single, simple service.  Simultaneously Groupon is appealing to the economic values of deal-conscious buyers, enabling them to discover new deals through friends seeking to boost purchase commitments, and creating an opportunity for those same friends to feel cool and helpful in spreading news of the deal.  This is the exact formula for an emotional connection that will drive active support for your message. And it’s one that has earned Groupon a fresh $135M in financial backing and rock star status in the start-up world.

First of all, of all, it strikes me that our marketing brethren and any communicators that own company-wide social media should look to emulate this strategy for their own outlets or products.  Why couldn’t Macy’s take their e-mail list and offer 25% off a popular cosmetic if 50,000 people agree to the purchase?  A Groupon customer typically spends 50% more than the face value of the discounted deal at the participating merchant, so at worst it’s a loss-leader.

But what about those of us looking to promote our organization as a thought leader or just get employees to respond to the annual engagement survey.  Could we develop exclusive content available upon 50,000 registrations on our Web site?  Could we offer a summer Friday off in exchange for 80% participation in a survey?  As long as the reward connects to the value of the stakeholders, the drivers of spreading and discovery almost become a self-perpetuating force for active support.

Have we devolved into bribing our stakeholders? Maybe.  But as long as their as there’s a correlation of action and reward (purchase:discount; newsletter subscription:thought leadership; engagement:days off) and emotional connection with the reward itself, I think we’re fine.  We’ll call it Group-Bribing for now… or Gribe… not Grieb.