As of March 2, 2009, Skittles.com has crossed into a new frontier. As you can read in the comments from the previous company of the week (Apple), transparency is a good thing, but to what extent do stakeholders need to know what you’re making available? In Public Relations Online, author Tom Kelleher writes about “usefulness of information”. He explains that stakeholders want useful information, not just a ton of it.
When you go to the new skittles.com, you are asked to check a box (sign a waiver) informing them that you understand that anything beyond checking this box is out of Skittles’ control. If transparency or authenticity is what they’re going for, they missed the mark big time. It’s like Skittles is saying “welcome to our site, but beware, anything you see here isn’t actually our site”. Some think this “experiment” will be counterproductive as customers will be turned off by the lack of transparency: they’ll have to dig for any bit of relevant information.
So now what happens when a consumer goes to skittles.com to find something specific? Where is the search box? Where is the navigation bar? The website has completely transformed into a gateway to social network pages. I put skittles.com into the wayback machine and got the previous version of their site. It was extremely colorful (like the candy) with links to games and still just as useless information-wise as their new site. Maybe skittles.com was meant to be…useless.
March 6, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Ansa,
I looked over the Skittles.com website as well, and I’m going to have to disagree. I think that it is a very innovative attempt to utilize social media to its utmost. I thought it was cool that wikipedia was it’s homepage and that it encouraged so much interaction.
While it may be frustrating to accept the terms of the wavier, I can understand how there could be issues regarding the comments that others leave on the site. Its probably the price Skittles has to pay to not moderate the comments.
My only concern with the new Skittles look is that it doesn’t work well for the non-tech saavy person. But at the same time, if the general Skittle eating demographic is good with social media, maybe they’re on to something.
March 7, 2009 at 7:29 am
I agree with much that Annie says. Ansa I think you’re being overly negative and not being open minded to Skittles new approach. Your critique of their new approach to a website, “If transparency or authenticity is what they’re going for, they missed the mark big time. It’s like Skittles is saying “welcome to our site, but beware, anything you see here isn’t actually our site,” could not be further from the truth. In my mind they are acting in the most transparent way yet to be done by a major corporation as far as I know. They are completely letting their image be based on their customer’s subjective interpretations. As far as I’m concerned they are being as transparent when it comes to consumer feedback as anything I’ve ever heard of before. What they are doing is not only incredibly simplistically innovative, but it is creating a huge buzz and marketing their product online to a degree that I think in the future many companies will try to replicate.
March 8, 2009 at 1:00 am
I’m trying hard but I can’t see where you guys are coming from. Most of what I wrote was based on the media buzz generated from the makeover and I agreed with it all. The problem with the site is not that it’s a bad idea, but that it’s too huge a step. While it’s good to be innovative, sometimes you can take it a step too far and you’re not helping anyone. From a transparency standpoint, how does this new makeover help them be more transparent? In my opinion, it just confuses people who may be looking for some basic information on Skittles. I’ll have to do further research on the new site’s impact in its first week.
March 22, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Ansa,
I agree with many aspects of each of the previous comments. The new Skittles Web site is a very innovative approach. It embraces new social media tools and easily demonstrates the depth of the brand. I agree that the waiver to enter the site is unusual. The Skittles brand is enjoyed by customers of all ages, but doesn’t seem to welcome them to the site.
In my opinion, the best solution for a new site would be a basic layout, featuring social media tools, and the standard navigation bar, which links to useful company information for customers, employees, and future stakeholders.