The economy may be crashing and burning around us, but the web world is all a-buzz about the new Skittles homepage.
There are so many folks focusing on how the Web 2.0 and social media are used for marketing, I don't typically feel the need to chime in. Charlene Li has a terrific blog entry on this.
The short story is that the Skittles home page has been completely redone - pulling no stops on Web 2.0 features. Flash is so yesterday. This is a site designed for a social media junkie.
The site changes to feature the various web channels the company uses to connect the brand with its customers. So when Charlene posted about this on Monday, the home page featured the search results for Skittles on Twitter. The idea it changes daily to feature its presence on Facebook, YouTube and Flickr.
Here's a screenshot of what it looks like right now, featuring its Wikipedia page:
The reason I was so intrigued to check this out is that I was curious as to what the broader implications of this innovative marketing strategy might be.
Skittles is facing, head on, perhaps the largest fear companies have of Web 2.0: exposing themselves to whatever users might chose to say about their brand. The good, the bad, the four-letter. Unfiltered. Uncensored.
Until now, this risk was primarily limited to user comments on third party sites; unsavory comments on the corporate site could be moderated or bleeped. Not on their home page for all the world to see.
I'm not sure how many candy companies (that is, not of the X-rated variety) require you to give them your birthday and to acknowledge that they are not responsible for the content on their own home page and that the content may be unsuitable for younger viewers.
Is this over the top or the future best practice in brand management?
Do your customers really own your brand, as Charlene suggests? If so, then Skittles is to be congratulated for putting that to the test.
What are the implications for organizations?
If the external brand is consistent with the internal brand, then it would follow that the employees own the culture of the company. This would be a great victory for empowerment. And leaders will need to restrain themselves from defending against the unvarnished perceptions voiced (and published) by employees.
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