In today’s shared-brand economy, people rule. And it’s about time. The rules of engagement have fundamentally changed. The line between people and brand is blurred now more than ever. The opportunity to be yourself and beyond yourself has arrived.

It’s our world. It’s our time. It’s our experience.

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When discussing new technologies with clients and peers I often hear the importance of not building “technology for technology’s sake”.   I agree that this should be prevented but I prefer to think positively and speak about how we want technology to work instead of how we don’t want it to work.  In doing this, I use the word Sprezzatura.

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A key question when developing social media strategy or a website is “Who do we target?”. “Who will be the most effective individuals to reach with our message?” Often these target audiences break down into two groups. Advocates for your organization, people who are invested in you and your offering, and the public, customers or end users – the ultimate recipients of your offering. A typical website design or social media strategy will try to reach these two groups in varying proportions.

But there is a third group, a group as important as either and one that can have a disproportionate effect on reaching end users. We call this group “Messengers.” Unlike your advocates, messengers are an audience that you don’t have direct contact with on a regular basis. They don’t follow your every word but they do share an affinity for your ideas, your topics and your issues. They might already be talking about your issues without mentioning your organization. Sometimes messengers talk about your topic on a regular basis, sometimes more sporadically as events or seasonality dictates.

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Internal applications – intranets, knowledge management sites, workflow management systems, etc. – drive an organization by keeping employees informed, creating quality and consistency across an organization, and positively influencing the bottom line. In this post, I review 4 ways to make these internal workhorses really shine.

Social Tools

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Yes, that’s right, the mighty Businessweek recently called on us to contribute some tips on branding. The tips are being featured in a regular section targeted to small businesses. Three of our tips have been published in the last two months. Tell us what you think. We’d love to hear your two cents or even more.

Tip One: Your Brand is a Verb, Not a Noun

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Chris Klaehn, Partner and Director of Brand Strategy at Corey McPherson Nash (Corey) joined Dave Fish, CEO, IMN, to discuss the role social media plays in branding in this podcast. Klaehn references several thoughtful relevant examples of brands engaging in social media and also offers up tips on developing a social media strategy for your brand. Do you agree or is Chris full of soup?

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Blogging for your company can quickly become a trap. CEOs who agree to blog regularly often run out of time or desire. Or you might delegate blogging to a lower-level marketing person who doesn’t really ‘get’ your company. If you follow a few simple rules, your blog can be on the road to success.

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Last week over 50 clients of Corey McPherson Nash gathered to hear Chris Klaehn and Ryan Evans speak on leveraging social media to enhance branding and business goals. Conversation was lively in the room, but it was also lively online. Here are some highlights from the live tweeting that went on during the event:

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What do the Obama campaign and Motrin have in common? They both utilize social media. The difference, however, is the Obama campaign has leveraged the power of social media for mobilizing its audience, and Motrin misfired by upsetting its audience. Both offer important lessons for us as we navigate the “Wild West” stage of social media.

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Who doesn’t know Charles Schulz’s Charlie Brown and Snoopy? We know about Charlie Brown’s yearly disappointment, trying to score even one run on the baseball diamond. We know about Snoopy’s rich fantasy life as a WWI aviator, wooing young women and drinking root beer. These characters are rich and detailed in our mind’s eye, but how did we come to know them? A comic strip only has four small panels, thin black and white lines, just a few short snatches of dialog. Not much to go on.

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