Current Issues in Marketing Strategy

Who would have thought that in the multi-coloured corner, Skittles would be setting the marketing world on its head?. Their new website focus's on connecting consumers together and generates conversations about the product through Facebook, Twitter and more. It's bold, new and it's sending marketers into a mix of excitement and panic.



The picture you see above sits ontop of your web brower and allows you to directly navigate to whatever Skittles info you are seeking. The home page is linked to Wikipedia, which screams cool! Sure Wikipedia is supposed to be facts, but there is plenty of user generated feedback within it. Twitter feeds directly into the site as well, want to say something cheeky and have it seen by thousands, just twitt using @skittles. So what is your inner marketer feeling...excited or scared?

The traditionalists will believe that unmoderated comments about your brand are a very dangerous thing, potentially doing irreparable damage to your brand equity. Conversly, those that are riding the social media train will look at this as a major breakthrough and a test of the concepts that are spoken about so often. The whole idea is to encourage those that enjoy skittles for any reason to communicate that, and stimulating a cascade effect, stimulating others that see the post to start thinking about the brand. Hell, I have never craved Skittles in my life, but I am headed to the store to buy a pack now!

Josh Strawczynski's Opinion
When marketers first wanted to make a Facebook page for their company, they were told that they were mad, now-a-days every company irrespective of size has at least some touchpoint within Facebook. Fully integrated social media (especially using live feeds like Twitter and Facebook) is going to be the next step in engaging consumers.
The Skittles campaign is already a huge success with over 600,000 friends having joined them on Facebook and a steady stream of messages about them on Twitter.

Jye Smith's Opinion
Skittles handed their brand over. It was up to us as the Twitter community to decide what to do with it. It was brave and while perhaps not the first instance, Twitter is at a point where the interaction was enormous.

Whether for shock, genius, or ignorance: it got people talking. People are still talking about this. And that's a good thing right?

We all have been reconnected with skittles: a brand that has been fairly quiet. What this means for marketers is what I've been saying about social media: new technologies, have meant new innovations but most importantly: new ways for people to connect, interact and share online.

The best description I've seen for it so far was from David Armarno:
Skittles is the Joker. They gave us the detinator. They gave us the choice to unleash chaos or not. We chose chaos. Lol. I love it.

I'll always choose chaos.

Many months ago I wrote an article about the 60 minutes online chat room, slamming them for having unmoderated chat, no sign of the 'expert' they claimed to have online and the rudest users I've ever seen. It really turned me off the program and in my own mind, it degraded the once proud 60 minutes brand. The general rule in marketing is that if it bothers you, it probably bothers other people and I am very glad to say, that they have finally corrected their mistakes and got it right!


When I jumped on last night to ask a question about box jellyfish, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they have addressed all of my concerns. The moderators kept the conversation on topic and the expert was given his very own text box so that he could do a direct Q&A session, instead of sifting through loads of rubbish conversation. This engaged me and I stayed online for some time.

To understand the significants in terms of marketing, we need to look at why they are doing it in the first place. The ability to engage in conversation increases the loyalty of their viewers and allows for two-way communication between the two parties. The very concept of social media marketing is based on this, communicate with those that like and hate your brand and improve you value offer. On top of this, stimulating conversations about your show help to build the brand and encourage new viewers to trial the product for the first time.

Josh Strawczynski's Opinion:
I love it when online providers get it right. 60 minutes have now set the framework to really engage their customers and build a stronger realtionship.

As for me, I now know that a box jellyfish will kill you inside 3 minutes and on average it takes paramedics 8 minutes to get to you...I'll stick to calamari rings from the local fish & chip shop.

The video below are my off the cuff thoughts about why I choose Qantas to fly to Adtech in Sydney, given that they were in no way the cheapest.  

Cascade's latest product release 'Cascade Green' makes its positioning strategy well known to all. The 100% carbon offset brew comes from the greenest part of the country, is never seen without an entourage of trees and plants around it and is supported by the website seen below. The question is, is positioning a large enough differentiator in a mature industry, or does their marketing mix need more?


There are a huge number of competitors in the beer market, differentiated by very little outside of price and to some degree branding. There is a strong argument to say that it is almost a commodity product. So in this instance, a strong 'green' positioning strat is probably a good thing, but would it actually make you try it?

I took a random poll around my office, of the 60 people I asked, the answer came back to the same thing, is it on special? Basically speaking, people that think like me, work with me and are easily persuaded like me tended to agree that it was a little weak and as normal, came back to price to encourage sampling it. I wouldn't say this is credible, so lets look at the positives.

Throughout Melbourne there have been a number of billboards that have stood out, interestingly with little reference to the actual beer and much more focus on the live plants that inhabit it. The catch line is "We're giving this billboard back to nature". It caught my attention and have overheard a few conversations about it, so for general brand awareness, it has worked well/

Josh Strawczynski's Opinion
Unfortunately, I see this one going the way of empire midstrength, then again, there have been lesser products that have made their place in the world. Maybe this could be one of them.