A new communications language is redefining the traditional practices of brand building and brand management. The explosion of social media has caused a significant shift — from a one-to-many branding strategy to a many-to-many branding experience — changing the branding rules for many businesses. Today, the control of a brand is no longer just in the hands of the company that owns it — but the employees who blog, the customers who tweet and the influencers who review it all. Carefully designed communications plans, tactical rollouts and controlled interactions are all going out the window. It is becoming increasingly difficult for brands to drive the conversation when they no longer control the debate. Consumers want to engage with brands on a whole new level and brands are going to need to respond accordingly, because influence and understanding have become far more important than size and spend!

A perfect example is PepsiCo's packaging issue with Tropicana last year. No sooner had their new design been unveiled on the shelf than an enraged and loyal community of customers began to campaign for its removal. Despite significant investment in research, creative development and production, in a swift and popular move the company responded to consumer pressure and reinstated the original, preferred design. They proved that Tropicana is listening and cares about what its consumers have to say.

The impact of this new dialogue is even more prevalent and valuable in the challenging customer service arena. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are enabling real-time communications between brands and customers, forcing brands to think and act on their feet. Brands like Southwest and JetBlue (both with well over 1,000,000 followers on Twitter) who have always focused on customer service are taking it to the next level with real-time responses to customer problems as well as information about weather, promotions and company information. Other airline brands — American Airlines, Continental, Delta and United (all of who have less that 50,000 followers) — have been slower to adapt —but are beginning to catch on. Despite the medium's massive reach to a rapt audience, not all brands are rushing to engage with their customers through social media. As we write this, many of the world's leading brands, including nearly half the Fortune 100 companies do not have Facebook or Twitter accounts, and many of those that do exist are merely placeholders or thinly maintained. Perhaps the resources required to maintain these relationships are a deterrent, and the ROI not yet proven, but more than likely many are simply unwilling to accept their new role in the democratization of branding.

It's clear that social media is here to stay and its impact on the branding landscape is still evolving. The rules have changed — it's no longer about brand management, but brand engagement. In this new marketplace, brands will have to learn to let go and embrace some of the chaos and anarchy in exchange for deeper and richer relationships. They will need to reach out and connect with their customers in a new way — in their way. Because if they're going to talk about you, it's better to try and inform the dialogue than let them talk behind your back.