Taste the future?

2 min read

Marketing Strategy

By now, most of you have seen the remarkably forward thinking approach of Skittles.com. If you haven’t, now is the time to check it out.

Over the past year, companies have struggled with the decision between creating their own community or attaching their brand to the already successful networks out there. Most of us have come up with a solution that involves the development of both.

The latest effort from Skittles (from the folks at Agency.com) is a bold step in the direction of embracing and empowering third-party social platforms—while almost completely tossing the brand’s “online home.” Perhaps just as importantly, Skittles has given the keys to product messaging and marketing to the consumer. Conversation is no longer a piece of their marketing—it’s the primary driver.

In a sense, many brands are already halfway down this path, with Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, a YouTube channel, etc. But most are struggling with how to connect them all, and many are still holding out for the possibility that their proprietary community will take off. Every day, new “networks” pop up—diluting the potential reach of the next.

What’s your take?  Will the “Skittles approach” be the new model for social media marketing?

Photo Credit, ambiebambie39507