Distribution and user-generated content
Berens: So far, it sounds to me like Bud.TV is a destination site; like, all of the content that you are creating, people will have to go to Bud.TV to get. Is that true?
Schumacker: Yes, that is true. The content we develop and what airs on Bud.TV will be proprietary; unless you download it and stream it to a buddy, you will not be able to see our content on any other site.
Berens: And, the reason for this is because of the Beer Institute's rather strict marketing guidelines about when and where you guys can appear in public?
Schumacker: No, not at all. It is strictly a creative situation where we feel we want to keep our creative proprietary. Now, say that one of the TV Shows, "Replaced By a Chimp" airs for three weeks, and we move one of our shows to archives and somebody else, like say, YouTube wants it on their site… somebody may put it up on YouTube anyway, or on MySpace, if they have their own page.
Berens: So, people will be able to download it and put it on their video iPods, or on their other mobile devices?
Schumacker: Yes.
Berens: And, Tony had talked about wanting people to be able to see this on their telephones, on their mobile phones, in the age of convergence. So, it sounds like there is a push component to this, rather than a pull component.
Schumacker: Correct.
Berens: Okay. Well, that is very exciting. Now, it sounds like all of the content is pitched at people of drinking age.
Schumacker: Yes. When you come onto the site, we will have a profile page you need to fill out-- not only just asking your birth date, but gender, likes, dislikes, et cetera so we can -- if you so choose, and opt to -- develop a customized page for Bud.TV. Say, you like our "Happy Hour Show," the "Comedy Show" and "Hollywood," and that is all you want to see when it is refreshed. You can opt in, put it on your desktop, and when it is refreshed there will be a ding, or a sound, that you know you have refreshed content on the site.
Berens: So, is there any plan to syndicate your content to some of the other places where Anheuser-Busch is famous for marketing? Tony, you are well known for saying that one of the best places to market is sports because that is where people do not skip the ads. There are all sorts of sports sites. There is ESPN. Do you think that some of the Bud.TV content might make its way out into other publication venues? Or, is it going to be strictly either downloadable, or achievable, through the desktop?
Ponturo: Conversations in the future will take on a broader sort of scope and we will be looking for unique content for Bud.TV. We may find that there is interesting, barter/sponsorship arrangements where we could be negotiating with ESPN.com for just our general advertising on their website, but want some content that maybe could be provided that is unique for Bud.TV, and incorporate that as part of a negotiation.
If we do this right, and we have a very attractive adult 21- to 24-year-old audience, that other sites and/or sports could be interested in any cross promotion that would make sense. Part of the Trigger Street partnership, in a way, is getting free content from their website, which are these short films that Kevin Spacey has provided the opportunity for. But really, their site is pretty much for the industry, and they would look for broader consumer exposure, which we could provide. We have had some conversations with NBC Universal about where there is the unique situation where they are obviously creating content with a studio called Universal. They are developing their internet sites. They obviously have cable and broadcast television. So again, what kind of arrangements can be made to be unique across the board that benefit both companies?
The sports angle is sort of interesting because although in many respects we are covered in the sense of live sports and team sponsorships, we still think that there is a place for sports on the site, in a sense of unique background, whether it is up close and personal with Dale Jr.; whether it is maybe programming; or, we can get behind the scenes of teams, or interviews, or training camps, or something that would need to be negotiated. But again, the trade off of driving people back to their sites. I will not mention anyone today, but we have already gotten a lot of interesting emails from third parties very interested to sit down and see if some of their content would be interesting to us; and then, how there could be cooperative efforts.
So, to Jim's point, we want a sense of propriety. We want a sense of: You have to go to Bud.TV, because they are delivering an expectation that is well received. But, in the same breath, the viral nature of the internet, and getting what we are doing out to as many people is going to be important as well.
Berens: We will be eager to hear what other alliances you guys might be creating. I wanted to ask about… we used to talk about "the last mile," back in the last phase of the internet. And it is really, it is the last 10 feet now, as we are going from the computer onto the television. And Tony, you had mentioned IPTV (Internet Protocol or InterPersonal Television) a little while ago. So, I am curious, is there a plan afoot, or are you open to getting the Bud.TV content onto people's televisions through VOD, or some kind of video podcasting, or some agreement with the cable carriers?
Schumacker: Actually, we have had some initial discussions with @radical.media out of New York, and they feel it is a great idea for us to go on Video on Demand. We would like to get the site up and running and see if there is consumer excitement. We feel there will be; and then, we will keep those options open.
Ponturo: Yeah, one thing to add to that, Brad, is, we are anxious about our announcement, but are still five months away from launch, and there's still a lot to be done. But, we really see that, maybe in the case of Bud.TV, we have just gone the first 10 feet, and we have a mile yet to go before this is all played out. We have said, "Let's not judge ourselves necessarily in the first 90 days-- on February 5, 2009, how do we look?"
Getting the right content on is key. And then, that we have people coming to the site. And then, I think, we are going to be wide open to where it connects, from a technology standpoint, as all of this develops. We are in what, maybe year 12 of the whole internet world? And, we are probably in, not barely year two of reasonably developed broadband capabilities. So, to us, this is still very much in its infancy and there is a long way to go here.
Going back, when it went from three television networks to a 100 channels, and then Pay-Per-View, and everything else… ultimately, the consumer drives themselves to content, and in the same way even with a 1,000-plus websites, those that are getting the hits are those that provide an interesting asset to the consumer. So, at the end of the day, if we do not have the content, then we are going to have an unattractive site. If we have the content, then we think we will have something.
And, the thing that is nice -- not that we all do not feel a lot of pressure on this -- but, at the end of the day, there is not a profit responsibility; there is not a bottom line responsibility. There is, making a good marketing expense responsibility, and hopefully the consumer rewards you, that ultimately, you see your beer sales grow. And that is going to be not that we can have a solid line to just one property; but -- this will be one of the important elements -- that we can hopefully grow our market share in the future.
The other thing, not to digress on you Brad, but then obviously the international and global capability, and the interest in this site around the world, particularly in key countries for us like Canada, the UK, Ireland, China where we have websites for Budweiser.com, and how we drive people and the awareness of Bud.TV around the world is another very huge opportunity as well.
Berens: You mentioned user-generated content in the form of BudTube, and particularly with the user-generated Ted Ferguson ads. The user-generated content, or what Henry Jenkins called "participatory culture"… these are really big deals in the online arena. I am curious what kinds of community, or social media, opportunities are going to be there for the consumers? How will consumers be connecting with each other? Through the "4:55 Show?" Is there going to be online commenting? Are you going to be inviting people to be blogging on Bud.TV? What other places for people who do not necessarily have digital video cameras and the ability to go out and create a short film? What else is there?
Schumacker: I am not at liberty to discuss what program it is, but we will have a program where there will be casting calls in bars for four to six weeks. We will shoot the show in a bar, but also, if you want to be part of the show, you can also put your photo and a bio up on the website, and then consumers can interact with each other, as well.
Berens: Any plans or possibilities of you guys working with some already established social network? I think that MySpace skews a little young for brewers, but there are plenty of other ones.
Schumacker: There are. And, we have had meetings with Fox Interactive and are in discussion, right now. We have talked about potentially having a page with one of our characters on MySpace-- MySpace is actually getting older.
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