Here is an interesting read if you are wary of being “brandjacked”.

The whole post can be read at The Brand Builder’s website.

Many of the people making crucial decisions in the business, manufacturing, marketing, communications and PR worlds today are five, ten, sometimes fifteen years behind the times. And when they are, this sort of thing happens (brandjacking).

In the end, once the fat checks have been cashed and the pretty reports and powerpoint decks have been presented, the result is still this: Those retainer fees and hefty salaries and seemingly impressive resumes didn’t stop the embattled brands/clients that paid dearly for them from the kind of embarrassment that my 15-year-old could have crushed with a laptop and about 15 minutes of light typing. There is absolutely no excuse for that lack of readiness and professional proficiency at the Fortune 500 level, and that is a problem that needs fixing. The time for paying lip service to the “Can you handle Social Media” question has come to an end.

So here are a few tips to avoid this in the future:

1. Monitor all currently relevant channels, not just the ones that were relevant to your field ten years ago. If you can afford tools like Radian6, Scoutlabs and Webtrends, get a demo today. If you can’t, free tools exist, not the least of which on Twitter is simply… running keyword searches, including your company name. This is not outrageously complicated.

2. Hire people who understand the Social Media space. More to the point: People who work in it every day. If you are a PR firm, hire someone who gets this stuff. If you are a PR firm’s client, ask that your PR firm hire someone who gets this stuff. A few hints: If they claim to be “certified” in Social Media, pass. If Social Media “Guru” or “Expert” is in their title, pass. Want to find someone who didn’t convert to the new Social Media religion three months ago? Look for references here and here.

3. Understand that experience in the Social Media space varies greatly depending on the function. A Community Manager, for example, may not have the skills and experience to help you integrate Social Media across the enterprise, or measure the effectiveness of your Social Communications programs and campaigns. It is worth noting that there are specialties within the Social Web management world, and that the “Social Media manager” designation is far from being one-size-fits-all.”

4. Don’t leave this to the last minute. Invest in these “new” channels now. Start listening, monitoring and understanding them, even if you aren’t ready to say anything yet. Learn to listen before you learn how to engage.

5. Make sure you don’t leave yourself (or your clients) open to brandjackings. #BrandManagement101.

Until the laggards catch up though, I will continue to enjoy watching @BPglobalPR ridicule BP’s PR machine, one irreverent tweet at a time.

Read the entire log here.