Hard candy rocks...

Well the sweet buzz has certainly been rippling across the web after Skittles turned its site into a social media channel, revealing conversations happening on Twitter, with a rotating landing page that will point visitors to information about the brand on consumer-generated media sites such as Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia).

This is a bold foray into consumer-constructed branding in the social media space (people have been building brand value for years but this is the first time a consumer-facing brand has loosened the reins to this extent in the digital arena).

Perhaps this is exactly the move this magical, young, and adventurous brand should make to stay relevant amongst its core demographic. But how will Skittles further spur the excitement and conversation after the initial buzz dies down? How will it help keep the dialogue alive? Hummm...a brief I'd love to have.

Interesting times. We'll see whether this tactic bolsters the bottom line for Skittles, whether it comes to sales or brand equity, but it feels like the right experimental approach that can work in this space (I'll be watching it;).

Although this Tweet was quite amusing (I suppose Skittles is open to it and the vast array of other profane uses for Skittles). Indeed tweets like this may add more fuel to the chat fire.

Next up: Facebook becomes the new home page...