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Just yesterday I wrote a post about Skittles attempt at using social media layered under their minimal site navigation ala Modernista. Interesting thing happens when you click the link for Modernista’s site: it retains our site in the background. Go ahead…try it.
Is it because we are opening in a new window? Who knows. Design flaw? You decide. If it was my site or that of my clients’, I wouldn’t be happy.
So the song goes…
Everbody’s talkin’ at me,
Can’t hear a word they’re sayin’…
Is this an ingenious use of social media or simply a dilution of the brand?
Social media sites, while in intention are meant to inspire such conversation, can often just run amuck into simply…well, all talk and no action. Call to action, that is.
When does social media just become noise? I think this is a good example. I have no time to babble about their site – which is what is going on now on Twitter. The brand is lost.
What is the call to action? What is the brand gain?
Maybe they were hoping people would say, “Wow, look what that great rainbow candy did…isn’t it cool! I gotta get some!”
Instead, people are tweeting about how Skittles broke Twitter. It’s more about Twitter than Skittles.
Remember the Goal: Brand Enhancement
What about the brand? What satisfaction can I get from Skittles? What space should the Skittles brand occupy in my life? (OK yes, it’s just candy, but as a brand it should answer that question.)
In this case, the brand has been reduced to a business card-sized image with some navigation at the top left of the page. That’s it. The rest is everybody talking about….whatever. It’s just noise…
Use social media to your advantage. Ensure you have a close connection to your brand and that the talk enhances your brand. Not talks over it.
And make sure you have a page to call to “home.”
Give it a look at Skittles.com.