To effectively use social media, brands don't need to reinvent the wheel -- they just need to reinvent themselves. Confused? Wieden + Kennedy's global director of interactive strategies explains.

Cracking into social media remains perhaps the biggest mystery in interactive marketing. Consumers have their favorite products and opinions, and they are bringing these discussions into their online social circles. So why can't brands break through and develop campaigns that deliver fantastic ROI?

The truth is they may not be thinking big enough, according to Renny Gleeson, Wieden + Kennedy's global director of interactive strategies.

"One of the interesting things to think about with brands in interactive media is not just how you use these media to express your brand or to talk about your brand, but to redefine what it is, and I think that's an important distinction," Gleeson said at the iMedia Brand Summit in Coconut Point, Fla. "Social media projects who we are, but to a lot of the folks we're trying to market to, they look at social media as a way to create who they are."

Redefining your brand through social media may seem like a lofty endeavor, but it's not as unobtainable as it sounds. The best brands will be the ones that take part in a participatory experience. Gleeson equated the situation to a rock concert. Crowds nowadays are lit by a sea of mobile screens, as concert-goers text, snap photos, or just wave their devices in the air. The audience has paid to see the band on stage, but they're still on their devices.

"When you get people holding a device up, they don't see themselves as not participating, they see themselves as sharing. They're creating their identity," Gleeson said.

This is the golden opportunity for brands on social media -- participating in these shared experiences.

"In the search for the shared experience, brands have an incredible role to play," Gleeson said. "They've always been the glue that binds. Now they have the opportunity to be the glue and part of the shared experience for the people who buy them."

Reality has become less appealing than the stories consumers can tell via social media, and the medium has greatly increased that storytelling ability and the volume of consumer opinion -- taking control of the conversation out of the brand's hands. But while brands can no longer control the conversation, they still have the ability to choose who they want to focus their efforts on, which is how brands can become part of the story being told.

According to Gleeson, centering an online campaign on an existing demographic or built-in fan base is hardly anything new, but what brands need to do is grow the campaign out of an existing community, rather than simply drop it on top of a community. This keeps the conversation going, even after the campaign is over. That way, the brand continues to earn media share even after the portion they've paid for is gone.

"You build and launch a campaign, but then the conversation doesn't stop," Gleeson said. "The next time you're seeding a campaign, you're doing it with folks you already know, and you might be able to do it directly. Now you can maintain the conversation."

There are two problems holding brands back from reaching the point where they can redefine their products online, he added. The first is the simple fact that the current marketing structure is outdated for interactive, which makes Gleeson nervous.

"Agencies are built to make ads, not come up with marketing solutions and solve problems," he said. "Marketing teams are built to approve ads, and publishers are trying to sell eyeballs, but what they need to sell is relevance."

The other problem is a simple case of wanting to be involved in the space. Interactive needs to be at the core of a brand's strategy, and Gleeson asked the assembled brand marketers how long it will take them to become the CMO of their organizations. If the highest a marketer is going to climb is the position of "Grand PooBah of interactive marketing," then that speaks greatly about whether an organization is going to make interactive part of its core strategy.

"I see people doing more interesting things than brands doing interesting things," he said. "I think people are doing it because they love it, not because they have to. Brands want to participate in social media, but it's difficult when you have your legal department sitting on your desk like a chaperone on your date."

The way brands can move beyond this is by focusing on critical skill sets: Your staff should understand community management, be fluent in social media, and grasp the importance of making it easy to find a campaign. But above all else, marketers need passion and curiosity, which is the most important factor for Gleeson when he hires.

"Even if they don't know everything, if they're curious, they'll become fluent," he said. "You've got to be curious, or you're dead."

Rich Cherecwich is associate editor, iMedia Connection.