Maybe you were on Twitter today and noticed that the Fail Whale kept making an appearance and wondered if this East Coast blizzard had anything to do with it. That is, until you realized that just about everyone in your Twitter stream was suddenly mentioning the rainbow candy brand, Skittles. A quick jump to Skittles.com and there you have it--Skittles decided to take a form of Twitter-branding by storm...and yes, coincidence that we get a huge storm today? I'd say perfect timing to get the maximum amount of exposure for this social media strategy. So is this tactic daring enough to be buzzworthy and what is the ultimate goal of this PR stunt?
If there is anything that has been positive about this economy, it is the creative ways in which marketing and PR types create client campaigns that will grab attention. The same old same old will no longer be effective in this depressed climate. I realize I am biased in my passion for social media, as that is what I mainly do here at Pierce Mattie PR, but while the smaller brands may have embraced this idea early on, we're really beginning to see the much larger brands stick their toe into the waters (even if with hesitation.)
Skittles is the first brand to redirect their homepage to Twitter's search page for the term "Skittles." You can find out via Graywolf's SEO Blog how they were able to keep competitor names and vulgar remarks from being integrated onto their homepage. This tactic alone has enough of an ability to generate buzz simply from people's desire to be in the spotlight. Who wouldn't want to see their Twitter profile pop up on the homepage of such a well-known brand? In a sense, Skittles is feeding into our narcissism. But is it enough?
Sure this gives Skittles an open door into the social media world and most likely will generate more press in print and broadcast publications beyond their Twitter experiment foray. But beyond that, will it also generate sales? How long will this publicity last? Yet if there is anything we can say, it's that their candy competitors were most likely sitting at their desks this morning saying, "Uh-oh," which in effect, is brilliant enough. You just upped the ante Skittles.
It got our attention, did it get yours?
Posted by Shannon Nelson on March 2, 2009 7:28 AM
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Comments (6)
Any coincidence that Twitter was mentioned on the View today?
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Victor Agreda Jr |
March 2, 2009 9:16 AM
Posted on March 2, 2009 09:16
Victor that's a great point. It makes you wonder if it was indeed coincidence or somehow planned.
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Shannon Nelson |
March 2, 2009 10:30 AM
Posted on March 2, 2009 10:30
A clarification: Graywolf's SEO blog describes techniques Skittles could have used to try to control what actually reached their site, but in practice they didn't: it was the raw unfiltered feed, complete with references to Skittles' high trans-fat content, how a lot of people prefer M&M's, and a bunch of foul language.
How long will this publicity last?
Well, in the first 24 hours they made the LA Times, USA Today, and the Financial Times (who says "Getting the online world buzzing about a 35-year-old candy is no easy feat, and will likely be a boon to the brand.") I'd say that's a pretty good result ...
jon
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jon |
March 2, 2009 10:13 PM
Posted on March 2, 2009 22:13
twitter is taking the user experience to next level . and skittle is now at its best in implementing the social media applications. this is definitely a bold step
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sean |
March 3, 2009 12:25 AM
Posted on March 3, 2009 00:25
Hi Jon, I must've misread--thanks for pointing that out. And I completely agree about the publicity they garnered because of it, I was just wondering how long it will last...a month from now, two months from now, will we still be talking about Skittles as more than just a "case study" and will this generate sales for them?
@Sean I definitely think that a brand like Skittles taking social media head on, will certainly make other brands start thinking they too need to take a "bold" step. Although, I'm not sure I consider social media bold, but I do understand a major brand's hesitation with it.
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Shannon Nelson |
March 3, 2009 4:35 AM
Posted on March 3, 2009 04:35
If nothing else, the Skittles brand certainly made headlines and got people talking. That was the whole point. Whether or not it turns into sales is almost irrelevant. It is like saying 'That massive poster covering a building is cool, but will it turn into sales?' The attention is often the goal in itself.
And Shannon's last comment is spot on. By going ahead and doing something like this, Skittles is pressuring other companies to adopt innovative social media strategies. Good stuff! ;)
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Nik |
March 15, 2009 3:43 AM
Posted on March 15, 2009 03:43