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?

In today’s jobless recovery, applying for jobs and hiring employees is stressful. Job seekers send resumes out hoping their document will rise to the top of the pile, but not very confident it will. And employers prepare themselves to slog through applications hoping to find the right match.

In the midst of this tense environment, Monster.com, the premier global online employment site, asked us to create an interactive demo. The demo connects employers with quality job seekers at all levels and provides personalized career advice to consumers globally. Through its online media sites and services, Monster delivers qualified local candidates to business of all sizes.

The demo is designed to show the value of Monster’s hiring tools and how easy and effective they can be for companies of all sizes. The tone of the demo is fun and funky, but it also gives visitors the opportunity to halt the animation and to spend time exploring each of the tools. The demo concludes with a video of testimonials from enthusiastic customers.

Monster understands the true essence of its brand and we are proud to collaborate with them on projects that are core to their continued success. The demo is not just an employment tool. It is an extension of what sets Monster apart from other companies – a commitment to help both job seekers and employers get the advantage they need. And that, is thoughtful.

Everyone has the same feeling about going to the RMV-pure and unadulterated dread. This is one brand whose equity has always been immersed in all things bleak and negative.

Like a well informed citizen who can’t tolerate waiting in lines, I checked the RMV Web site (a noble attempt to elevate the RMV brand but who’s kidding whom?) to determine how long the wait would be. Just like the certainty of death and taxes, there’s always a wait at the RMV.  The Web site said 42 minutes. Not bad, I thought, I can handle this.

I arrive ten minutes later and my ticket tells me the wait is 57 minutes.  I take a deep breath and feel brave as my eye surveys the filled benches, lines leaking outside the entrance and walls wallpapered with people from all ages and stages of life. My number is 287 and they are at 208. By the time the electronic voice bellows my number, one hour and 55 minutes have passed. I shake my head as I remind myself that I never expected a good experience at the RMV anyway. The clock of my emotions has advanced toward frustration and anger. As I walk toward the counter, I see a teenage boy jumping for joy and waving his licsense in the air while his proud father beams behind him. Everybody’s heads turned, smiling as the boy left. Now, that is joy at the RMV.

We recently completed work on a branding and visual identity system for the University of Massachusetts Boston, nationally recognized as a model of excellence for urban universities.

UMass Boston prides itself on being a major academic enterprise, and a “research university with a teaching soul”. Our charge was to communicate the proud confidence UMass Boston has as a powerful public resource for the State and for the local communities. We created a brand architecture and brand standards so the institution is now able to present a unified verbal and visual message.

On December 4th, I led an information and training session for members of the UMass Boston community involved in marketing-related communications. Both a video of the information session and our downloadable brand manual are available on the UMass Web site.

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.

The 2008 campaign and Motrin’s baby carrier ad were some of the examples we discussed at our recent presentation to the AIGA Boston on Social Media & Your Business. At CMN, we use social media to project who we are, how we think, and what we’re up to. We use it to tell our clients, prospective and existing, how we define thoughtful — because that’s what we strive to deliver — thoughtful branding and design.

There was some healthy debate among the participants as to whether or not social mediums like Twitter and Facebook are professional tools. One woman said Twitter allows her to learn a lot of new information in a very short period of time. But someone else questioned how much time it takes to use these tools. “Is it really productive?” he asked. Our response, “It depends on how you define productive.”

At CMN, we view social media as a way to build shared meaning among a community. And creating a shared meaning is about creating a distinct, compelling, meaningful brand. But it all starts with your brand. The brand strategy should address who you are and who you want to be. It should be relevant, unique and defensible. Your social media strategy should show your brand. The goal is complete transparency across every customer touch point: Internet, packaging, face-to-face, etc.

Our Top 6 Rules for Social Media:

1. Be authentic.
2. Strengthen your current audience and engage new ones.
3. Connect. Give your audience a reason to engage with you.
4. Be remarkable. Give people things on which to remark.
5. Participate in other discussions, not just your own.
6. Embrace organic planning. Have a plan, but be ready to adjust.

Remember, a social media strategy is only as good as the brand strategy from which it evolves.