Although Twitter has been all the rage for the last few months, there is still a huge gap in how well brands are executing on this opportunity. Many brands are doing a fairly good job, and others are clearly out of the loop and need a reality check with regard to how they are using Twitter -- if they're using it at all.

It is important to note that Twitter is not an island of communication. Rather, it is a communication channel that quickly jumps its own confines and lives in multiple places online (Facebook, blogs, widgets, etc.). However, a very small percentage of companies are fully integrating Twitter into their marketing and communication strategies. Just having an account on Twitter does not mean that you are leveraging its fullest potential. Significant additional effort is required for Twitter to become a top-performing part of your communications and branding strategies.

In this brand smackdown, I'll be highlighting several sets of competing brands across various vertical categories and comparing the effectiveness of their overall Twitter strategies. There may be instances where I have missed a particular brand's other presences on Twitter, in which case, it is merely symptomatic of the fact that the company has not integrated its Twitter presence into its main brand web presence and marketing and communications strategy. Such integration is essential to helping consumers easily find what they are looking for.