Everyone the last few days has been in an uproar over the new social media strategy by Skittles. Social Media experts everywhere are wagging their fingers at the brand- telling them they are "doing it all wrong." Instead of encouraging teens to talk about Skittles, they are encouraging "false conversations" about the brand instead. In other words- people are just throwing the word "Skittles" in their tweets just to be noticed, or worse, using the brand name and profanity together.
OK- let's take a breath here. How many teens are just going to talk about Skittles calmly and in a way that is organized and organic? A few, but the overall risk of social media is that you have to be prepared to take the good with the bad. If someone wants to tweet that "Skittles Sucks"- well, maybe they really believe that, and that is the risk of having a Facebook Page, etc.
But, let's face it- people all over are noticing the Skittles campaign. They are blogging about, writing articles about, and analyzing Skittles. When was the last time I wrote about the brand- right- never. I am a measly little media planner and buyer, but still.
They have taken a risk, and it has gotten people talking. And, that, is much more than many brands can say these days.
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