Even if your brand isn't Apple or Nike, you can still benefit from the surge in social technology. The trick is "borrowed relevance" — creating an application that's about your customers' problems and then tapping into that application. Building around customers' problems means you can accomplish goals including generating research insights, energizing fans, getting customers to support each other, or even crowdsourcing your marketing. But no matter the objective, the key is to recognize that you're creating a long-term asset, not an advertising campaign.