Today, Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) honored 12 Forrester Groundswell Award winners for excellence in effective use of social media to advance an organizational or business goal. The winners were announced at Forrester's inaugural Forum For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals in Chicago. The sixth annual Forrester Groundswell Awards support and recognize the principles outlined in the Forrester books Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (Harvard Business Press, 2008) and Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business (Harvard Business Review Press, 2010).

"Once again this year we received many outstanding entries for the Forrester Groundswell Awards," said Forrester Vice President and Principal Analyst Nate Elliott. "It's clear that social media has reached a tipping point, where savvy companies are using social tools to pursue real business objectives rather than simply chasing fans and followers. The 2012 winners put social programs to practical use in their organizations -- successfully marketing their wares, supporting their customers, and generating insights."

This year, there were more than 100 Forrester Groundswell Award entries. The awards presented today represent the top entries in the Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) divisions. Winners in the Business-to-Employee (B2E) division were announced last week at Forrester's Forum For CIOs. In all, 15 Forrester Groundswell Award winners have been honored this year.

Winners of the Forrester Groundswell Awards were chosen across a range of categories, representing the strategic goals that Forrester advises organizations to consider when using social media to interact with their customers. A detailed overview of each winning entry, along with the finalists in each category, is available on the Empowered website.

Here are the winners of the 2012 Forrester Groundswell Awards:

Business-To-Consumer (B2C) Division:

• Talking: Glidden My Colortopia by Digital Influence Group
• Energizing: New Kind of Social Shopping by sneakpeeq and Badgeville
• Supporting: Engaging and Energizing Experts for Superior Support by Hewlett-Packard
• Embracing: Fueling Innovation with Community Built on Lithium by Barclaycard Ring
• Social Impact: ABC News Million Moms Challenge by BlogFrog

Business-To-Business (B2B) Division:

• Listening: London 2012 Social Media Listening by Cisco Systems
• Talking: SmartBear Gets Smart on Social by SmartBear Software
• Energizing: Create Now -- Adobe Creative Cloud Launch Social Activation by Adobe
• Spreading: Using Gamification to Drive Software Trial Adoption by Autodesk and Badgeville
• Supporting: The element14 Community by Premier Farnell
• Embracing: Customer Advisory Council -- Fostering CXO Intimacy and Growth by HCL Technologies
• Mobile Application: Cisco Mobile Technical Support by Cisco Systems

Business-To-Employee (B2E) Division:

• Collaboration Program: Using Social Knowledge Powered by Lithium to Reinvent Customer Support by Cisco Systems' Technical Support Services
• Innovation Program: ANA Intelligent Network (ANA IN) by ANA -- Aeroportos de Portugal, S.A.
• Mobile Application: Mobility Transforms the Manufacturing Process with Eaton's PowerSource App by Eaton Corporation

Forrester's Forum For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals 2012

More than 600 people attended the Forrester Forum For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals in Chicago, which in its first year explored the role of digital disruption in eBusiness. Digital marketing professionals received practical advice for weighing the tradeoffs presented by digital opportunities for top-line growth and customer convenience against the risks of disruptor-induced margin and loyalty pressure. The Forum served marketing and strategy executives in a variety of professional roles, including eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals, Consumer Product Strategy Professionals, Interactive Marketing Professionals, and Technology Marketing Professionals.

About Forrester Research

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 17 key roles at major companies providing proprietary research, customer insight, consulting, events, and peer-to-peer executive programs. For more than 29 years, Forrester has been making IT, marketing, and technology industry leaders successful every day. For more information, visit www.forrester.com.

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