Brands are going through plenty of change these days. One of the biggest challenges is what happens when your "former audience" or former "consumers" start to mix it up with your business.

As we heard from Clay, collective action is now easier than ever. Irate individuals have taken advantage of that fact, but now companies are, too, for positive ends like new product design.

Kevin Clark, author of Brandscendence, has been shepherding IBM's brand for some years (note that IBM just bumped Microsoft out of second place worldwide). He has much to say about how social media, crowdsourcing and similar phenomena are changing brands.

With Kevin and Judith Meskill, who suggested this topic, let's discuss: 

• What happens to brands in this new environment? What constitutes a brand?
• How can companies succeed in this new world?
• Are there stages to this evolution? What might be next?