What a strange title, huh? But I read an excellent post this morning, brought to my attention by Twitter friend @bViral, about jumping the gun before simply asking nicely if you see someone using your brand name.

Stephen Collins asks, at Social Media Today, “Is it brandjacking if you come in late and don’t ask nicely?” If someone takes a known brand name, for any reason, they are asking for consequences should the brand decide they care to pursue it. It’s never a good idea, and the very act of registering a social media account in a brand’s name that you have nothing to do with usually indicates one of two things: either an over-zealous fan wants to be associated with it, and talk about your brand with other enthusiasts, or a person wants to gain benefits undeserved… whether it’s to try to hold the name hostage, or simply be found via searches, or maybe they have a grudge and want people to find complaints when they search for the brand name.

Recent Twitter-celebs-gone-mad activities (Ashton Kutcher now has over a million followers, and the unthinkable happened, Oprah is now on Twitter) indicate that brands not already there, will be coming or at least looking to see that the brand name is available. So how should these companies and celebrities and branded products approach it if they come online to register, only to discover they have missed the opportunity to snag their own name?

This is going to sound wrong to a giant corporation used to dominating situations of brand theft, but this is how I would approach it in a social environment, to minimize your loss of reputation in the process:

PHASE ONE: ASK NICELY

1. Register an account under another name that is obviously your brand, and put a background, bio, url link and avatar up that provide proof of who you are.

2. Leak the word that you are on Twitter to some fan-base or group of followers because you will need followers if the person does not surrender the brand name easily. Begin tweeting in a friendly, personable, informative fashion to build some following quickly.

3. Follow the person with your registered brand name in an attempt to contact them via DM. Since Twitter doesn’t show email addresses this is the way to make initial contact.

4. If they don’t follow you back, tweet them and politely ask that they follow you so you can DM them.

5. If they follow you back, send them a DM that says you are now on Twitter and ask them to release your registered/trademarked/established brand name to them. Be willing to go back and forth, persuasively, in a few DM’s. If the person is a brand FAN your respect for them and understanding the psychology of brand pride they relate to is essential for keeping them a fan.

6. If they are willing to release the brand to you, it may be as simple as obtaining the password from them and taking it over.

PHASE TWO: MAKE IT PUBLIC

7. If they do not release your brand immediately and cooperatively, this is why you have followers… you should let your friends on Twitter know you are trying to obtain @yourbrandname and that they have refused to release it.

8. You shouldn’t bash the person too much because your followers are watching how you handle this – but some of your genuine fans likely will. Public humiliation is often the swiftest way to resolve a social injustice. (I hate to suggest this, but it’s true. I have been involved in at least 5-6 incidents of forcing an imposter to take down/change/alter what they have done using this vehicle.) Usually within a couple of hours of beginning a public outcry, you will obtain what you want.

PHASE THREE: GET OFFICIAL

9. If the stubborn little brandhijacker still refuses to budge, inform Twitter about the situation using a support ticket or the Get Satisfaction support website.

10. Contact your legal department and have them take over from here.

In the meantime, you are now on Twitter, so talk to your true fans and engage and interact with them! They will appreciate the way you attempted to handle the brand name theft nicely BEFORE contacting the legal department, and as a “friend” in the social media space, you will have earned extra credit for class and style.

Questions? Want to tell me I’m full of smack? Leave them in the comments.