Twitter’s 2022 ‘Brand Bracket’ competition is now complete, with Skittles taking out the top prize after defeating various other brand handles in head-to-head polls on its way to victory.

Twitter’s Brand Bracket promotion ties into the NCAA Final Four tournament, pitting brand Twitter presences against each other in its own tournament of tweeting champions.

As you can see here, each brand was matched up with others in the bracket format, with Twitter users then polled on the face off in each round, which eventually saw Skittles defeat the notoriously quick-witted @Wendy’s account for brand Twitter supremacy.

So what’s so good about the @Skittles account?

Skittles’ social media team is pretty in tune with overall web trends, and uses them in its tweets, tapping into popular topics.

For example, @Skittles shared this at the peak of the hype around Netflix documentary ‘The Tinder Swindler’.

Skittles also looks to link into popular fandoms, with references and in-jokes to help boost its appeal to niche communities.

While it also links into the more popular trends.

It also has its own, ongoing memes, with its back and forth on lime Skittles being its most popular in-joke.

Really, Skittles takes a somewhat similar approach to Wendy’s, in aligning with key web trends and shifts, and adding its own take. Some of them catch on, some don’t, but the Skittles social media team clearly has a good sense of what’s happening online - which is probably the biggest takeaway for brands looking to better understand how to boost your tweet appeal, at least with respect to winning Twitter’s own Brand Bracket competition.

The real question, of course, is whether such efforts drive sales, and only Skittles would know that. But definitely, this approach helps to increase discussion and chatter around the brand, boosting brand awareness and maximizing engagement in the app.

That could be a valuable approach, and the key lies in hiring social media managers who truly understand the online landscape, and how to translate trends in an authentic and brand-aligned way – without coming off as cringey.

@Skittles is a good example of such, and it’s no big surprise to see it win Twitter’s second Brand Bracket event.