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September 7, 2006
I Want My BudTV.
Thanks to AdRants for queuing me on this one. As reported by the AP on September 6th, Budweiser's latest foray into the online world will be... BudTV. Due to launch the day after Super Bowl XLI, this online entertainment network will feature everything a red-blooded American male aged 21 to 34 needs to know about all things Budweiser.
The debate over the encroachment of advertisers into the domain of media will no doubt take up many column inches and pixels of space in the months ahead. Debates aside, the growth of branded entertainment is a proxy on the failures of mainstream media to deliver consistently compelling content to audiences becoming increasingly comfortable demanding their own unique, interactive entertainment experiences. Into the void enters advertisers.
Look at A-B's prime audience: young males. ESPN excluded, there is a dearth of original, non-formulaic content being distributed for these viewers. The business aspects aside, perhaps most disconcerting to me is that advertisers are rapidly becoming the arbiters of broader and broader aspects of culture. We learn what is good new music from Starbucks, whose Salon concept further expands the company's foray into music promotion. Women learn how to be "empowered" and "feminine" all at once from Nike. Now, we'll turn to Bud for comedy, reality programming, sports and more.
A-B officials indicate that Bud TV is marketing, not a true entrance into for-profit entertainment. I defer judgment until their audience stats are calculated. In the meantime, I would debate the effort's value for the brand over time. This will not be cheap -- $30MM for starters. But, today's Gen Y / Millenials love doing traditional things in new ways. So, Bud TV may catch on. But then what? Gen Yers may not have developed brand loyalties yet, but they are notoriously fickle. Once you've fragmented the ad market even more, how do you continue to feed the beast? Of course, in fairness to advertisers struggling with reaching core audiences across wildly fragmenting media, what's better than creating your own destination medium? Welcome to the intense dynamic of the Web 2.0 era.
Good luck, A-B. We'll tune in later to see how it all works out. In the meantime, pass me a tall, cold one. I'm thirsty after writing this.
Posted by jcioban at September 7, 2006 5:23 PM
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