Skittles Should Re-Think New Web Site

by lisa ~ March 10, 2009

Since launching a new Web site last week that was wholly composed of social media pages, Skittles, the Mars, Inc. brand of candy, temporarily pulled down its Twitter page after mischief-makers posted profanities and other inappropriate content, according to this article in Mediapost. Skittles later replaced its Twitter home page with a Wikipedia landing page that is “semi-protected,” meaning it can be edited only by established registered users, suggesting that perhaps the company didn’t really want to cede control to the public after all.

As a professional communicator, I am astounded that any company - even one targeting tweens and teens - would allow social media users to direct its message. To appreciate the extent of Skittles’ abdication, consider this: All visitors (even repeat visitors) to the site are confronted with the following announcement: “Just a heads up: Any stuff beyond the Skittles.com page is actually another site and not in our control. This panel may be hovering over the page, but SKITTLES® isn’t responsible for what other people post and say on these sites.”

As a consumer, I found the site frustrating. First, the Skittles logo and navigation panel hovers at the top left corner of the screen, obscuring part of every page. It cannot be closed or repositioned. Second, the veracity of its Wikipedia entry is questionable. Although the page cannot be freely edited, how dependable is this information? Larry Roth, the president of BrandLogic Interactive, a firm that develops Web applications, has written a comprehensive assessment of the site’s shortcomings.

Still, plenty of industry experts praised Mars’ creativity. “The reality is, Skittles has done this completely right. This solution was quick to produce, leverages existing communities that have great interest in the product and creates a platform that further engages the consumer,” wrote Freddie Laker, director of digital strategy at Sapient, for Advertising Age.

To see Laker’s positive review, click here: http://adage.com/digitalnext/article?article_id=134995

To see Roth’s critical review, click here: http://larryroth.net/blog/2009/03/02/skittlescom-sense/

Lisa Tibbitts (Lisa.Tibbitts@Me.com) is a New York-based corporate communications professional with an MBA in marketing. Follow her on http://twitter.com/FinancialPR.