What else do you want from them? There’s really nothing else that i need from them. They gave me all the places that I could engage with them in one place. They basically put out an invitation to talk to them, which is its own form of engagement. It’s not the same form of engagement as them talking to us. Who’s to say that they need to actively reach out to me? Who’s to say I even want that from them?

Engagement comes in all different flavors, just like Skittles. There isn’t one answer for how a company should do things.

I do feel that this is the “see” part of the “see-saw”, literally and metaphorically. We are seeing what they are doing. We are waiting to say that we saw what they did next. It remains to be seen if they galvanize their public attention into translating viewers into consumers. That’s really the bottom line.

As Mandy said above, she hated Skittles, then she wanted them and now she can’t get them out of her head. They win. Personally I researched all the flavors of the rainbow in all their different bags. I wasn’t into Skittles before but it made me remember a favorite bag of mine, which now I will go out and buy. Again, they have won. That’s all that matters, is that your marketing/advertising does it’s job of turning viewers into consumers by turning buzz into money.

Great case study. I’m looking forward to what this means for us all, not just for companies, but for the social web as we know it.

I enjoy all of the comments I get here. Thanks guys. Without you this wouldn’t be a conversation. It would be a broadcasting system. ;D

You bring up an interesting point about them not necessarily needing to ’speak’ within the Twitter stream in order to encourage the conversation. The website maneuver itself was indeed a tremendous source of influence – I hadn’t really considered this relatively-forgiving angle until reading your post. (Do no harm, right?)

That being said, I would certainly like to see them at least ‘accessible’ within the pot that they’ve stirred up. Right now, it feels a bit like they threw themselves a huge Skittles party, invited everyone, and silently skipped town. ;-)

All the best,

…D

Dan Dashnaw’s last blog post..Calling All Video Creators: Please Stabilize Your Audio Volume Levels.

Personally, I am not a fan of the campaign (so far). I found it intrusive and gimmicky with little substance behind it. They took over my screen and forced their way into my purview to create manufactured buzz and mindshare. While having your brand top-of-mind is important, it is more compelling — and sustainable — when that mindshare stems from something meaningful, or is sparked by the value it imparts rather than usurping it via my social networks. It didn’t make me feel connected to the brand. It made me feel held hostage by it.

Skittles having a social media ‘presence’ doesn’t show me that they understand me, their customers — or the space. It showed me they know how to infiltrate the social web but not how to interact or build a community within it. They didn’t respect my community. They pummeled it. It was all about them, not me — or their customers.

Overall, the experience didn’t draw me in or engage me, and had little relevancy to me personally. It was just in-your-face cool, Modernista-esque technology that didn’t leave me wanting Skittles any more than it did to ever return to the site again. So they got me there once but they didn’t give me a reason to come back. That said, a candy company doesn’t necessarily need site stickiness but they do need to sell Skittles, and I don’t think the amount of chatter on Twitter is translatable to more people reaching for them in the checkout line.

At the end of the day, I think they achieved what they set out to do — get people *talking* about Skittles. But if they plan to make this a successful endeavor, they’ll need to get people *buying* Skittles. Was this an innovative campaign? Sure. Did it lay the groundwork for greater brand engagement and customer affinity? That remains to be seen.

The first to the line is never the most refined, but they start the race. Skittles has upped the ante for companies to relevantly display and disseminate their social presence to their consumers. Long gone are the days of talking at me. I want you to talk with me. I especially want to know how you’re talking with the rest of us as well. Not every company’s answer will be the same. What matters here is that companies start to interact with us where we interact as well as aggregate all of those interactions in one place to make it easier for me to interact with them as well.

@ Mandy:
Brilliant branding is polarizing and insidious. Pop music is short for popular- it’s popular because it’s gets inside your head, rolls around and buries itself in the crevices of your brain, POPping up at random times later on. THAT is what brilliant branding does. You hated Skittles, then you wanted them, and NOW you can’t get them out of your mind. They have won because they now have a piece of real estate of your mind.

@ AVFlox:
Of course you can feature this on your brilliant blog http://omgomgomfg.com or anywhere else you see fit. Oftentimes many of your articles are inspiration for mine. I am proud to know someone of your caliber.

AV Flox’s last blog post..Using Twitter More Effectively: Unfollow Everyone?

Skittles give me a major headache. And seeing the word “skittles” makes me cringe. I don’t like to even talk about them…but now I can’t quit thinking about them. I woke up wanting a bag of Skittles. I hate it when I get sucked in…especially on my own turf.

Mandy’s last blog post..Breaker, breaker

I like your point about not using the customized API, though I do think that as they’re providing content on their site, they should see what “tweaks” they can make to ensure the most relevant content is captured (see drama over profanity and un-related content from yesterday for a strong reason why).

I do think Skittles could do MORE with social media, but think this is a great first step if they can keep up the momentum.

I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store, and seeing also if this expands to other Mars brands.

Katie Morse’s last blog post..misskatiemo: @upsydaysie – Someone also brought up the point that Pepsi should strive to be the "anti-Coke" – pepsi = new and constantly refreshing