Comments on: Skittles’ Social Media Campaign: FTW or Epic Fail?

By: Mandi Jacobs

Mandi Jacobs — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:46:11 +0000

I just don’t understand why a company would want to create a website that before you enter you have to enter your birthdate and read a disclaimer that says, ” what you see doesn’t reflect Skittles.” Wouldn’t you want all things on your Web Site to be clean? Correct me if I’m wrong, but Skittles is candy, candy is for kids, so why would they make a site that is inaccessible to children? I guess I’m confused on its tactics. I understand that it is a new idea and it generated a lot of talk, but I feel like the site has little to do with the candy. I feel that they could have a a Twitter application on the site, but not as the whole site because not everyone knows or understands Twitter. The fact that it is highly interactive is a great tool, but I feel like not knowing what people may post is not a safe bet for Mars.

By: Nicw

Nicw — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:37:02 +0000

Interesting concept but is truly piggybacking on someone else’s brand. I didn’t like having to qualify to reach their site and there was no option to opt-out. Hopefully they will remove that feature. My question is will they be able to sustain it?

By: Jack Leblond

Jack Leblond — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:07:09 +0000

They should have been talking too - instead they just acted as a megaphone for the world to say whatever it wanted - even if it had nothing to do with the candy. Jack Leblond's last blog post..Can eating Skittles increase your page views?

By: Editor’s Picks: March 2-6, 2009 | Search Marketing Standard

Editor’s Picks: March 2-6, 2009 | Search Marketing Standard — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:32:23 +0000

[...] to buy there way into social media, and not surprisingly, are having a hard time. In some cases, the results are awkward, to say the [...]

By: Planting Seeds – Cultivate your web presence to grow your brand online » Blog Archive » Skittles: Useless effort or great experiment?

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 02:36:41 +0000

[...] • Skittles Social Media Experiment, Fad or Trend? • Skittles.com social media experiment, what’s really important • Launched: Skittles.com • Skittles new “website” leaves a bad taste for some • Skittles’ social media campaign: FTW or Epic fail? [...]

By: Youth Marketing Connection » Skittles Wants to Be Your Friend.

Youth Marketing Connection » Skittles Wants to Be Your Friend. — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:09:26 +0000

[...] round of articles and blog posts (not unlike this one) calling out the campaign and sparking new discussion. And even the dissent, and their has been a fair amount of it bubbling up around the blogs, is [...]

By: Z Goodwin

Z Goodwin — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:43:05 +0000

The implementation was definitely flawed — as evidenced by the racial slurs that they let slip in — but, overall, this was genius. Genius — and extremely cheap. Best post I’ve read on the whole thing thus far: http://bit.ly/s6EAM

Another thing they should consider for next time: they didn’t grab relevant Twitter handles before launching. Now, @skittlescandy (www.twitter.com/skittlescandy) belongs to someone who is not a delicious, rainbow-colored candy.

Zach

By: Skittles Twitters up a storm - Technology Live - USATODAY.com « Organizational Leadership Journal

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:15:43 +0000

[...] Skittles’ Social Media Campaign: FTW or Epic Fail? (marketingpilgrim.com) [...]

By: Wayne Liew

Wayne Liew — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:35:02 +0000

I think the campaign is successful because it does get people talking about them BUT non-marketer users might feel odd and ask what's the point (response from my friend when I told them this). I don't think changing your company site to your social media profiles is a good idea. Am I at the wrong site? OK, I'm leaving... Wayne Liew's last blog post..Weekly Biz Buzz #2 Word of Mouth Marketing, Social Media Space Monitoring, Niche Domination

By: Tom Lindstrom

Tom Lindstrom — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:01:59 +0000

It got people talking and that´s really what counts.However, that is not the best way to do social media marketing if that was their intention. Tom Lindstrom's last blog post..How To Increase Your Efficiency With Data Entry Jobs From Home

By: S

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:11:38 +0000

lame, annoying but certainly created a certain buzz (though useless). surely didnt make me wanna go buy some skittles. yawn. nor check out the site etc. moved on almost immediately

By: Matthew Parente

Matthew Parente — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 03:36:59 +0000

Well, it appears they may be social media channel surfing. It’s not a twitter interface anymore … it’s a Facebook fan page for Skittles. Some of the buttons are disables, but it’s a real Facebook interface … and it says they have almost 600,000 fans. I’d say that’s a win.

By: Market Secrets Blogger

Market Secrets Blogger — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:56:47 +0000

I actually like their html version -which I saw accidentally from using a pc without adobe flash. This is branding at its finest...something we could all learn from! Market Secrets Blogger's last blog post..Using Traffic Exchanges

By: PS3

PS3 — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:58:47 +0000

I’ve not seen that Ben, sorry.

By: Ben Pfeiffer

Ben Pfeiffer — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:39:17 +0000

Hmmm, hope it works for them but seems a bit like they just wanted to jump on the bandwagon. I am also getting the Skittles wikipedia entry to show up when I visit the site blocking javascript. Also see a bunch of sentences stuffed into a H1 heading tag. Anyone else getting that?

By: Joe Hall

Joe Hall — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:25:26 +0000

Gregory: “Oh, and the overlay tools/info look like a real afterthought. They could have used the twitter API to do something so much better.”

Amen! They could have used the API and done something that was a.) more “their own” b.) more integrated with the other sites they are pointing to.

By: Joe Hall

Joe Hall — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:22:21 +0000

@Deirdre – Exactly! will this effort play out well with mainstream audiences? Will it attract new customers? Good points!

By: Gregory Brine

Gregory Brine — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:20:45 +0000

I like the idea of using Twitter in this way, but the problem is, for a lot of web users it doesn’t mean a lot yet. Ok, so people are talking which is exactly what social is designed to do, but to your average non-twitter savy internet user, all they’ll see is a bunch of short comments.

But, I’m not saying ditch it as I’m all for social and we work hard in the social sphere. What I’m saying is look at how it can be made more accessible to the rest.

Oh, and the overlay tools/info look like a real afterthought. They could have used the twitter API to do something so much better.

By: Deirdre Reid

Deirdre Reid — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:01:27 +0000

Will the candy get lost in all their efforts? The web site is quite a display of social networking sites. Since I’m logged in on Facebook, it is my page that lies behind their fan page. It looks like someone from Skittles is answering wall posts, but some of the discussion board conversations are definitely not G-rated, probably why they have the age sign-in. The twitterstream is interesting — a mix of views, some about the candy, most about the marketing.

They certainly have the marketing/social media world talking. But what’s their next move? They’ve attracted attention, and brought their brand to my attention, but I’m deep in the marketing/SM world that took notice because of their methods. What about my friends who have Facebook accounts but aren’t on twitter and so haven’t read about all of this. I wonder if they’ll notice. Are they doing this in conjunction with any tv or radio ads? Not tuned in so don’t know.

I’ll admit, I’ll notice the Skittles now when I’m in line at the store. Still probably won’t buy, but they did get my attention.

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:31:43 +0000

I agree with Simon. This is guerilla marketing at it’s best. It definitely got the buzz that was intended for the product.

It is kind of fun in an annoying way… If that’s possible. Got me to look though.