Fake News without the Gatekeepers [1]
Submitted by Diane Farsetta [2] on
It's "the most aggressive example yet in a growing trend of marketers utilizing broadband video downloading to bypass traditional TV outlets," writes Joe Mandese. During the ABC network's Super Bowl coverage, Anheuser-Busch [3] debuted "Bud TV," a "direct-to-consumer [4] network ... offering viewers the opportunity to download advertising, programming and branded entertainment content directly to their computers, iPods and other devices." Bud TV is run by Maven Networks [5], which previously ran a "limited channel" for PepsiCo [6]'s Mountain Dew. General Motors is readying similar efforts for Chevrolet trucks. The PR firm Medialink Worldwide [7] recently "announced the creation of its own direct-to-consumer distribution channel with the release of a new VNR (video news release [8]) for General Motors' Buick division featuring golf superstar Tiger Woods." Medialink CEO Larry Moskowitz [9] calls the approach "narrative marketing," and says it gives "marketers more control over their messages than relying on traditional TV news department gatekeepers."