Interwebs the rainbow

Yet another company has jumped on the social media bandwagon, but this time it's with full awareness of the medium. Last week I sat through an hour of Microsoft experts telling political campaigning staff to 'let go' of their control issues in messaging when using social media platforms - now, with Skittle's new site comes the prime example of just how much to let go.

The whole site has been tightened right down to just feed any mention of Skittles on Twitter. That's it. The fact that the corporate execs have relaxed enough to let any and all content come through on their official website shows that they understand, or have been convinced (more likely), that they can no longer control their brand. To be really successful, you have to let it go. If you make a good product, people will talk in a positive light about it. Bad product - bad light.

It's creating a whole new world of consumerism. No longer are just sales important - it's a truly market driven economy of publicity. The big problem comes when every marketing and advertising exec in the world finds a way to manipulate this back to dollars. While Skittles will get a lot of cred for this move, it's still all about brand recognition. (Even with this post, I don't like that my writing about them serves to help their marketing machine.) The worlds of the interwebs and advertising have been getting closer and closer over the years, with boundaries blurring all the while. The current trend for a few companies is to launch a 'shoot yourself to stardom' campaign, and capitalise on members of the public creatin viral campaigns in return for a cheap plane ticket and a pile of cash. In the past, these campaigns would have cost millions, now they can do it with $5000, a website and a YouTube account.

I'm putting out a call to action - don't buy it. Don't enter your quirky video, don't submit your great idea for an event, don't re-tweet an advertisement message and above all, don't pass on that *product name* is great. It's what they want, and it results in more cash, their way. (I recognise the irony in my above post - quiet).