Today, intelligent use of social media is of “huge” importance when it comes to branding, according to David Murray, the new director of social Web communications for Ann Arbor-based brand marketing firm re:group.

Murray knows the power of social media, because he found his first job as an assistant Webmaster by networking on the social media site Twitter. He has been involved in social media in a number of ways, from founding the Social Media Club - Detroit Chapter, and earlier this year co-chairing the FutureMidwest Technology Knowledge Conference in Royal Oak.

Prior to coming on board at re:group, Murray developed and maintained social and digital communication strategies for multiple clients, including Fortune 500 companies, government organizations and nonprofits.

He said the path that brought him to his current role came out of a curiosity about how people communicate.

“I wanted to understand how people are communicating both on- and off-line using social media tools available,” he said. “I like to help people, and I’m passionate about communications in general.”

Murray said in the early days, there weren’t many opportunities for professional training or requirements for directing social media within a company. He said he’s done a lot of self- education through reading blog posts and discussions on Twitter.

In his current role as director of social Web communications for re:group, Murray said the majority of his day is spent helping clients understand what social media is and how it pertains to their business.

“There’s a real discord between how businesses and organizations think they need to communicate to people and what is actually happening on the social Web. They’re not in touch,” Murray said. “We’re re-educating them and showing them the current trends.”

Social media has changed the way companies brand themselves, too, he said.

“Companies don’t really own their brands — consumers do,” Murray said. He said that, with social media, consumers are able to go beyond just liking a brand to telling many other people what brands they like and telling the business or organization what they don’t like about a product or service.

He added that companies that are exploring social media have to listen to those consumer voices and stay accountable to build that trust.

“The whole thing with branding is building trust,” Murray said. “People do business with who they know, who they like and who they trust. If you don’t build trust, you don’t have a brand, and no one will be interested in what you’re offering.”

Murray said that social media is “a more positive than negative” form of communication, and, when things go wrong, it’s usually because people don’t understand how the social Web works.

He gave the example of BP not understanding the power of social media in the recent public relations disaster over their handling of an oil spill. Individuals have lost jobs for “tweeting” the wrong thing, too, not realizing what’s appropriate and what’s not in the context of using social media for doing business.

“It’s important for every company to have an internal social media policy,” he said. “It doesn’t have to be set in stone. It should be organic and changing, but there should be general guidelines."

Murray said he could envision social media being a strong driver for change and innovation in Michigan.

“I’m a champion of Michigan. That’s one reason I moved back here,” he said. “People were seeing a lot of negative, unfortunate things happening to the state, but I saw opportunity, and social media plays a huge part in that.”

For instance, one of the next big things for Murray is the 140 Characters Conference (named after the 140-character limit for Twitter posts) coming to Detroit in October, giving social media experts a chance to network and exchange ideas.

“It’s a chance to connect and participate in a conference about the state of now and the reinvention of Michigan,” Murray said.

Background

Age: 35.

Education: Bachelor’s of fine arts with art history minor and a bachelor’s degree in computer animation.

Family: Wife, Jenni Murray.

Residence: Troy.

Business Insights

Best business decision: Never studying business.

Worst business decision: Not taking enough risks.

Best way to keep a competitive edge: Always be in a state of innovation. Never stop learning or trying new things.

Personal hero: Pending, though a lot of people inspire me.

How do you motivate people? By empowering them.

What advice would you give to yourself in college? Trust your intuition and keep doing what you’re doing. It will all work out. Though I would recommend paying more attention to things like grammar. Maybe take some more writing classes.

Word that best describes you: Creative.

First website you check in the morning: I don’t know if it counts as a website, but I check my Tweetdeck first thing in the morning. Then my Google Reader.

Confessions

What keeps you up at night? My cat.

Pet peeve: People who don’t say “thank you” after you hold the door open for them. These must be some the unhappiest people in the world.

Guilty pleasure: Video games.

First job: Scooping ice cream at Guernsey Dairy in Novi.

First choice for a new career: Musician. Treasures

Favorite cause: I support just about any cause that builds awareness of the social stigmas that surround mental health issues.

Favorite book: “The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die.”

Favorite movie: Too many to choose from, but right now it’s “Harold and Maude.”

Favorite hobby: Cooking.

Favorite restaurant: Again, way too many to choose from, but I would highly recommend Forest Grille in Birmingham.

LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter? Yep, all three. At LinkedIn I'm at http://www.linkedin.com/in/davemurr. At Facebook, I'm at http://www.facebook.com/DaveMurr. At Twitter, I'm at http://www.twitter.com/DaveMurr.

Typical Saturday: I can’t remember the last time I had a typical Saturday… or any day for that matter. I usually wake up early. If I can sleep in I will, but lately my inner alarm clock has been working overtime. Meditate. Catch up on my blog reading. Attempt to write a blog post. The rest of the day is usually defined by some sort of event or activity, sometimes social media-related, sometimes not. A good movie is always a plus. What team do you root for? Wolverines all the way.

Wheels: Nissan Versa.

Who would play you in a movie? Benicio del Toro… or George Lopez, depending on the seriousness of the movie.

Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to AnnArbor.com. You can reach her at sarahrigg@yahoo.com.