You Can't Skip The Commercials When The Channel Is Just Commercials

from the go-ahead-and-try dept

Wed, Sep 6th 2006 8:44am — Joseph Weisenthal

As the traditional TV advertising market deteriorates, big advertisers are scrambling to find new ways of connecting with consumers and promoting their brands. Not surprisingly, since there's so much hype surrounding online video, many big companies are looking to go down that route. But at the moment, there's no obvious way to market in this space. Strategies include producing viral web clips, soliciting user-generated commercials, or simply sponsoring TV content that gets distributed online. Now some are looking to take a different approach; starting early next year, Budweiser will launch its own web video site at Bud.tv. There they will offer a range of programming from sports shows, fashion, humor, and commercials made by Bud drinkers -- all targeted at Bud's core young male demographic. Of course, the concept isn't really new. Large brands have been developing and sponsoring content for a long time. And predictably, others are charging that the move represents a cheapening and commercialization of culture, which is absurd since entertainment and advertising have always gone together. As with any other content offering, the only real measure of success is whether people watch it, which will depend on it being good and well suited to the format. If it's not good, the fact that it's online video, or that it's targeted to a specific niche, will be completely meaningless.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

14 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2006 @ 8:52am

Well, of course
And predictably, others are charging that the move represents a cheapening and commercialization of culture, which is absurd since entertainment and advertising have always gone together.

Another reason this is absurd is that culture has always been cheap and commercial, at least to the target demographic. You can't cheapen something by commercializing it when it is already 100% commercialized.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
tora1188, 6 Sep 2006 @ 9:21am

Miller
Fast forward 5 months:

Introducing Miller.TV! the place to be for beer chuggres everywhere!

Heineken.TV! the place for all you keggers! remember we come in three sizes!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Andy, 6 Sep 2006 @ 9:23am

Looking forward to Bud.tv
Actually, this is not a bad idea. I've loved Budlight commercials for many years, I'd even buy a DVD if they compiled it. Seeing all of them in one place would be fun!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Drama2Sell, 6 Sep 2006 @ 9:27am

Product Placement
How come there is no product placement in porn?

Seriously, aren't the web numbers for watching porn extremely high---can't the pizza delivery guy who shows up at the naked girls frat house be from Pizza Hut or something?

You know that bud.tv is going to have all these soft-porn type of shows (Girls in Bikinis, Models drinking Bud, etc) Why not just go all out?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2006 @ 9:55am
  
  Re: Product Placement
  I think the corporations want to keep their distance from pornography...
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- John Q Public, 6 Sep 2006 @ 10:54am
  
  Re: Product Placement
  I agree, and it is only a matter of time. Who will cave first? I doubt you will see a can of Bud on the end table during the money shot, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a can of Monster or Rockstar.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2006 @ 10:34am

1 sided media... eh.
How much time have you spent on any one product page before you get tired? This idea is going to be moderately popular upon launch, and it will steadily decline to just another web page. The concept will create some buzz, as it's doing here, but it wont be insanely popular, as noted by the few comments on this thread... overall... ehhh.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The Grand Master Pimp, 6 Sep 2006 @ 11:00am

energy drink placement
naaa not monster...

PIMP JUICE!

(yes, it's a real energy drink, although you can only find it in D.C. and Northern VA
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mark, 6 Sep 2006 @ 11:10am

Who knows.
It may be a great idea, but wouldn't it be better to dump a lot of content on Youtube and Gvideo first?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2006 @ 11:11am

Demolition man
When I read this all I can think of is the "wall to wall showtunes, what you used to call commercials" comment that was said.

Hopefully I'll be dead and burned before all that shit happens.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 6 Sep 2006 @ 11:11am

Demolition man
When I read this all I can think of is the "wall to wall showtunes, what you used to call commercials" comment that was said.

Hopefully I'll be dead and burned before all that shit happens.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Michael Long, 6 Sep 2006 @ 11:28am

Patronage
Can you image if this catches on, or moves from the net to TV? Image a channel where all of the good guys, for some odd reason, drive huge Ford SUVs. Or a "Discovery"-type channel with unbiased educational environmental programming... by Shell.

When you move to a single source of income by a single person, that's partonage, and the problem with it lies in the fact that patrons are fickle people who also usually demand that you adhere completely to their viewpoint.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Blitz(ed), 7 Sep 2006 @ 4:40am

I like to watch some commercials.....
I remember a site called Ad Critic that had so much traffic they had to go to a paid site model and stop showing commercials for free.... I never could figure out why some of the owners of the ads that were highest ranked couldn't throw some moeny their way.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Jos, 2 Feb 2008 @ 10:28am

Viral videos
Sites about commercials are everywhere. It's the trick to find the best, I think I did. Check http://www.promopinion.com.

I think that the (new) viral video approach has the future. The make the ad, the mass spreads them. We, the viewers will benefit, the virals must be great to be seen.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]