Anheuser-Busch advertising chief Bob Lachky last week described the company’s online channel Bud.tv as a “flawed idea but brilliant concept.”
A-B has sunk millions of dollars into the project with disappointing results.
Speaking at the Association of National Advertisers Masters of Marketing conference in Phoenix, Lachky blamed much of the problem on the complicated registration process designed to keep underage readers out.
But he also criticized his own company’s approach: ““The other thing that is totally flawed — and I don’t understand this — as you can tell I was doing something else at the time … I don’t understand why you’d have Bud.tv and then not have anything branded on it at all and just have this bizarre content that wasn’t branded.â€
Lachky also commented on the merger between SABMiller and Molson Coors announced last week.
“Everyone took that $500 million in efficiencies at face value,” he said. “It means they’re going to be closing breweries and cutting people’s jobs.”