Taste the Rainbow

Lots of people have been talking about how Web 2.0 is the present/future/alternate universe of the Internet, and I would venture to say that the new Skittles website is the best example of this yet. Skittles has taken a huge leap in this realm – one which (most importantly) makes sense for the brand. For the last few years they have been experimenting with viral tactics. Strange, funny, nonsensical commercials that have grown a cult following. Take for example the singing Skittles’ Rabbit. (Notice the views, similar posts and wannabe singing rabbits on their YouTube page. Hence – cult following.)

What they’ve done right is harness their brand in this Web 2.0 world. In fact, today their “website” consists only of varied social media sites. Where is the home page? It’s the small pop-up in the upper left-hand corner. And with a simple click of the tabs, users are able to access their Twitter feed, Facebook friends and Flickr pics. Get it? The only real website, in the (dare I say) traditional sense, is the contact and product page.

But the Skittles team has already run across one problem: when you create a page that displays all comments/videos/pictures with the word Skittles people are going to take advantage of it. Even with these pranksters the campaign has created a lot of positive buzz in an environment where Skittles lovers can join together.

In the end, when deciding whether or not to take the plunge into social media, the most important thing to consider is the state of your brand and the time you are willing to commit to it. Skittles can pull this off because they have cultivated a brand that is conducive to the web environment and is almost universally liked. (I’ve never met anyone who hated Skittles!) With that said, the 24/7 job of social media monitoring now begins. Watching the screen all day every day – I’m sure that’s some superfly intern’s task.

– Blog contributor Justin Hancock