Is there anything really new in Coca-Cola’s new social media ‘strategy’? The brand is widely considered a leader in terms of its use of social media, and every new approach it tries out attracts interest.

Its latest one is based on the  “4Rs” – reviewing, responding, recording and redirecting, according to Natalie Johnson, the brand’s digital communications manager.

The reviewing element consists of monitoring popular opinion about its main products, as compiled from social media sites by firms like Radian6, Sysomos and Scout Labs.

Company ‘experts’ will then respond to these comments, through blogs and social media users. The recording element involves placing information with relevance and common interest for placement, ranging from blog posts to short viral videos. ‘People don’t want to hear sales talk … they want information that is relevant to their daily life,’ Johnson says.

‘Redirecting” means giving information to consumers via connections from Google and Facebook to MyCokeRewards. The more links out there, the better the brand’s Google rankings will be.

Nothing earthshaking here. It’s what everyone is doing – or should be. But it makes sense for a leading brand to keep renewing the old maxims in new packaging. The idea that it’s doing something new helps keep its own people motivated, attracts interest in the blogosphere and maintains the perception of it as a leader.

Sometimes just talking about what you’re doing is as important as doing it.