I feel the fundamental problem with big companies trying to enter the social media realm is the scale issue – but from the opposite tack as the link you provide. As you say, the power of social media is in the relationship. Big players aren’t used to talking 1:1 or even 1:1000. They are already selling to hundreds of millions so in order to boost sales in a meaningful way (meaningful = internal recognition and rewards for the marketer behind it) they need something that will influence people on the order of millions. Hence why we continue to see and read about money ‘wasted’ on new, celebrity-driven tv campaigns. To some degree it’s an incentives problem. The near-term job recognition ROI just isn’t there for the implementer.

They are also hamstrung by their bigness in another way. True influencers don’t have an incentive to climb on board because they risk diluting their own personal brand by promoting something that has already reached all of us uncool people. Apple was always the small, niche, underdog. Their influencers were nurtured over a decade and a half, but how many of them are now out there promoting the latest iPod?

I’m not trying to say big brands can’t find success in social media, but there are a lot of inherent hurdles that must be overcome. From the outbound communication aspect I think it makes most sense for new product launches that don’t fall under the parent brand. But even then the parent company has a lot of pressure to hurry the relationship and bring successfully bring the product to market. There aren’t many relationships that flourish when hurried.

Obviously, social media is a two-way communication and I believe the best and most immediate use for an existing entrenched brand is listening. Not something that is typically in a marketers job description. Listening can help hone targets, improve products and retain customers.

My advice: start by listening and evolve your messaging based on what your community wants to talk about rather than ’selling.’