As Joseph Yi pointed out in his article about Skittles’ innovative but ultimately unsuccessful into social media aggregation, the problem with the campaign was that it didn’t offer fans a chance to communicate with the brand itself. They could have conversations about it, and potentially catch those comments on the Twitter Chatter or on one of the other aggregates, but there was no way to actually have a two-way conversation. As we’ve talked about time and again here at Social Media Marketing, conversation is key. Well, it seems Skittles is finally moving in the right direction.

The candy company recently launched a new feature on their Facebook page: Mob the Rainbow. It strives to bring Skittles fans together to create something huge, a clever two-fold effort that both engages consumers and welcomes media coverage. This last week, they launched the first mob—an outpour of Valentine’s Day greetings to someone who never gets love: the parking enforcement officer. Given the option to either create one on the site or get the address to send one on your own, Skittles fans came together to present this meter maid with a whopping 43,037 Valentines last Monday.

This new level of engagement in a step in the right direction for Skittles. Their tagline for Mob the Rainbow reads “Millions of fans strong. The Interwebs is our playground. Let’s cause some fun.” Flash mobs have become exciting, heavily covered events in the past few years, with many of the most successful of events coming together with the initiative of a brand, such as T-Mobile’s Life is For Sharing events. For their first round, T-Mobile sent out video invites with a dance for interested parties to learn. They auditioned and were chosen to participate in the event. They were then to meet at the Liverpool Street Station and dance together in a massive flash mob. The campaign drew in elements from the brand strategy and was a massive success. Since then, T-Mobile has used social media like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook to invite fans for additional flash mobs. The second event was a sing-a-long in Trafalgar, where 13,500 people showed up to participate, without being told what they’d actually be doing in the mob. That’s faithful participation right there, something most brands could only hope for; how often can a brand say, “Come along with us. It will be worth your while” and actually have thousands of people join you in faith that you’ll provide? It’s more than good luck; it’s a smart use of social technologies.

Leveraging these existing social media relationships can be huge for a brand that wants to deep dive into engagement. Skittles is on the right path, but they will likely create a higher level of participation and engagement if they continue on to connect directly with the fans themselves through live events or online on a more personal basis. With over 3 million fans on their Leveraging these existing social media relationships can be huge for a brand that wants to deep dive into engagement. Skittles is on the right path, but they will likely create a higher level of participation and engagement if they continue on to connect directly with the fans themselves through live events or online on a more personal basis. With over 3 million fans on their Facebook page, Skittles has oodles of friends to play with. If you have online relationships with your consumers, these personal connections are within your grasp, especially if you’ve only got a few so far. As you continue to grow your social media presence, consider how you can leverage these online relationships and help them evolve; you may just become the next big thing.

Claire Grinton is a brand strategist and writer based in San Francisco. Find more from Claire or contact her at claire[dot]grinton[at]gmail.

Tags: Life's For Sharing, Mob the Rainbow, Skittles, T-Mobile