Skittles takes the first plunge....into the deep end of the Social Media pool.
Quickly, lets define "the Deep End of the Social Media Pool":
This is where a company's Brand is defined by what customers say about the brand.
So www.Skittles.com [1] has no "corporate content" other than the Contact us page. The Skittles home page is a hovering pop up window that shifts from the Wikipedia definition of Skittles (Home) to the Facebook page (Friends) to the Twitter page (Chatter) to Youtube (Video) and Flickr (Pics) pages and a couple more...(Contact and Products)
Skittles - the brand name of a popular US fruit flavored candy (Skittles is a sweet to those of us who grew up in the British speaking world) - has been greeted with extraordinary media interest, not just by customers. Twitter - the service that allows 140 character text messages (tweets) to be transmitted real time to the web and mobile subscribers - actually suffered a "take down" - so many tweets filled the radio wavelengths that it overwhelmed the entire media channel of Twitter.
For great analysis on Skittle's social media foray, see Charlene Li's post at The Altimeter [2].
Since I have highlighted Twitter... though Skittles is also harnessing Facebook, Youtube, Flickr...I'll give you my own Twitter bio.
I started twittering about a month ago, and it is "waaay" fun, and much cooler than sitting and writing a blog. On the plane back to San Jose last Friday, I had a great chat with my seat mate from Eye-Fi about the marketing impact of twitter for wireless applications and devices. And before I could write about it, that Tweet Sweet Skittles has demonstrated the potential of social media to grab attention for a brand.
For those who tweet regularly, the not so secret news is We Really Like It. Its like being in a Secret Club - where twittering is the secret handshake. I think it helps that it appeals especially to people with short attention spans.
I love to pull out my cell phone and upload a short 140 character tweet about the interesting things I hear people say... and to hear how other people are doing with their time and the times we live in - an amazing transitional period - that Twitter is recording and allowing us to record with their help.
And at this early stage, brand-experimenting with putting Tweets about Skittles on the web as Skittles is doing, wins the interest and appreciation of a tech savvy, trendsetting crowd - it takes courage to experiment with a new media and folks have a soft spot for pioneers.
Join us on Twitter - Graham Hill, Paul Greenberg and Bob Thompson are on 'fer sure, and I am sure I have missed others you know.
Tweet me when you get going!
Mei Lin Fung
Blog: Learning to Earn Customer Trust by Mei Lin Fung [3]