You may think that your company owns its brand.

As intellectual property, if you will excuse the pun, thats patently true. But while owning the IP of a brand off ers some advantages, it provides little real control over the ability to generat e or maintain value. A fundamental principle of brand strategy is that a brand i s cared for by the company and is owned, at least in part, by the customer. This recognises that the value of a brand is a derivative of its customers opinions. If those opinions decline then so does brand value and firm profitability. Makin g customers needs the core of your organisational purpose puts ownership of the b rand in your customers hands. Firms that take this approach allow their brand to g row to its potential. This idea has become increasingly important as more firms participate in social media. Companies that have used the customers own the brand principle as a useful intellectual exercise and little more are being forced to rethink, and very quic kly. In the social web you can direct, participate and engage in conversations a bout your brand. But so can your customers. It is a level playing field. Social media has given your customers more control of your brand than ever before. Cust omers that believe that their needs are not being met will let you know, along w ith everyone else. Customers relationship with a brand is an emotional one. Every touchpoint your cu stomers interact with will shape that relationship. Understanding how your market interacts with your brand, and the personality your brand conveys at each of th ose interactions is vitally important. Think of a time you rang a utility provid er and encountered someone on the end of the phone who was rude. For most of us the emotional response to this is I dont like this company. We look for other infor mation to support this view. We talk to friends and share experiences. The emoti onal connection with the brand has been assigned. Changing this type of entrench ed negative view is no easy task. But social media as a touchpoint is different because your customers views are vi sible. And you can respond. Social media platforms allow customers to interact w ith your brand in much the same way that they do with their friends. They treat it as a person. If your social media strategy recognises that, you can make sure your brand has a personality with clear emotional cues. If you dont then your cu stomers will assign a personality for you. And it may be not be the personality that you want. So remember, a brand is more than a just a logo. Take the time to build a brand strategy that incorporates interaction in the social web. Define the personality and make sure your business understands it and can express it particularly onli ne. Opting out is much more risky than participating in social media. Get it rig ht the rewards will be easy to see.