Walls Are Killers
By Rob Safuto on May 23, 2007 in Social Media, Video | Tags: Bud.tv , Video
I don’t care how much money or how big a brand is behind a project. If you throw up walls then you’re dead in the water when it comes to online content.
Consider the case of Bud.tv. They launched earlier this year with a plan to distribute a network of online videos using the power of the Budweiser brand. Destined for success I’m sure.
At the time I noticed that you had to register for the site in order to access content. That was a dealbreaker for me. Show me something before you make me give up my personal info. Heck, they don’t even let you see what a profile on Bud.tv looks like. The site had no blog and no RSS feed. I quickly forgot about the offering.
Now paidContent reports that Bud.tv is on its last legs. Is it any wonder?
The wall was a mistake. The reason for the wall was that they wanted people entering to be of legal alcohol consumption age in the country where they were accessing the site from. That’s one of the most preposterous things I’ve ever heard in terms of requirements to consume content online. So if I’m an 18 year old American I can view your content if I happen to travel to Germany?
Walls are silly when you’re trying to build a community. Companies like Anheuser Busch need to come to terms with the fact that they might not be the right ones to start and run a social network. There will always be a stigma attached to selling alcohol or tobacco. There’s no way to end around that.
[tags]Social Media, Video, Bud.tv[/tags]
