Watch this, and watch it closely. Bud.TV, the broadband video channel Budweiser is starting up, gets its coming-out party during tonight’s Super Bowl. Anheuser-Busch is getting into the programming business, folks, and the shows aren’t overt Bud ads. The company has hired real producers to make real shows for the channel. The idea is basic: have the viewers come to your channel and it’s automatically promoting your product. And it’s promoting it for the duration of the show. Broadband hookups are already coming to TVs. This is where the ad and marketing dollars are – and should be – going. From the St. Louis Post Dispatch:
The basic idea was hatched after last year’s Super Bowl, when A-B’s commercials were viewed 22 million times on the Internet after the game and downloaded 400,000 times.
DDB Chicago even has produced a comedy sketch show for the website. The ad agency already has made 57 episodes, and it plans to roll out one each day. (emphasis added)… Bud.TV’s approach to selling beer is decidedly low-key. A-B commercials will be posted on the site, and strategically placed Bud Light or Budweiser products will appear when shows portray bar or party scenes.
Advertisement
Cory adds: Good idea, but the Bud.TV registration page is ridiculously long. Sure, they need to verify age, but asking for my mobile phone number is over the top. I’ll never watch, and neither will most people, which will doom this to failure.