socialmedian: Skittles Surrenders their Home Page and Brand to Social Media

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Skittles Surrenders Their Brand to "The Crowd" By panda88

Mar 10, 2009

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Skittles Surrenders their Home Page and Brand to Social Media – The Pros and Cons

Submitted by Panda88

Mar 05, 2009

Summary

Pro-Skittles

Skittles recent radical makeover to their web presence is a bold stroke of marketing brilliance, a total surrender of their brand to the power of social networking, crowd-sourcing and the freedom of information.
And the thing is, it may be foolproof - as much trouble and flak as the Skittles brand might have brought upon themselves, there’s one thing they’re guaranteed to get even more of – press.

It’s a basic tenet of advertising that having the name of your brand in front of eyeballs and ringing in ears is the best way to sell a product, particularly one without any notable benefits (like Skittles). Every time we get online and comment about Skittle’s recent makeover, we add strength to the brand. We knock the keyword “skittles” to the top of search engine results and give it the potential to go viral. Yes, even this article is helping their search ranking. We get no ben Read the full article

Comments (14)

Charlesheflin,

Mar 05, 2009

I think it is a brilliant move. This gives a human voice to the brand that consumers will appreciate. After all consumers eat the candy why not learn and interact directly with the people that spend the money on their product?

The boost in media attention is also brilliant. I think I'll go buy some Skittles now... I forgot that I like them.

Omar M Reyes,

Mar 06, 2009

I think that was a really smart move by Skittles. No better way to get some attention than to do something radical.

Respres,

Mar 06, 2009

One sure way to judge its success is their bottom line. Let's see how it impacts sales. I'm more aware of Skittles today than I was last week, but I'm not going to be buying any for me or my children. It will be interesting to see if the attention results in increased sales.

Cobimarjesder,

Mar 06, 2009

http://www.expotv.com/profile/home/densepti
http://www.fileradar.net/users/view/31075

Kaphoen,

Mar 07, 2009

Well they say that there is no such thing as bad advertising, but I must say it leaves me rather bemused. I thought skittles was a game that one played in the pub, rather similar to ten pin bowling - I hadn't realised it had transmuted to the internet.

Wellness360,

Mar 07, 2009

The pay-off seem to be greater than the risks in this case. As they say nothing ventured, nothing gained or no pain no glory. At least they know the honest unfiltered views of their patrons.

Self Esteem,

Mar 09, 2009

I love that Skittles has given the power to the people through social media. The beauty of our changing times is that our individual voice can now gather and become a powerful collective messenger, for good or bad! That's life, though, and that's the power of social media. Skittles made an excellent choice if you ask me.

Ferny Ceballos,

Mar 11, 2009

I'm interested to see how this will play out. Especially considering that their product is not really one that generates a lot of fanaticism.

Roxanne,

Mar 14, 2009

What skittles has done is both brilliant and crazy. Social media is definitely the way to go in this day and age, however, you open yourself up to all kinds of crazies as shown by this post. It will be interesting to see what comes from it. It very well may be a good thing because those of us who like skittles know that the horrid comments are just that.

Keithparis,

Mar 19, 2009

It seems someone in the Skittles organization has done their homework. Social Buzz, or referrals, has always been the key to success.

Paulsorgi,

Mar 26, 2009

You are so correct with it being pushed up. I posted a past article regarding skittles on my blog and have had several google organic visits on the keyword skittles.

Benig007,

Mar 26, 2009

I'm pretty sure that now after Skittles many others will leverage social mass marketing to the extreme

Slaphappychappie,

Mar 27, 2009

Whether you like Skittles or not it's absolutely clear that this brilliant marketing move has prompted thousands, if not millions of people to let their feelings be known. Maybe that's just called - jumping on the bandwagon!

Bryner123,

Mar 31, 2009

In viral marketing you can never know whats effective and what's not, until you do it. The risk is huge, but when you make the right move, reward can be outstanding