INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this audit is to answer several questions within the social media landscape:

1. Who is talking about Anchor Steam?
2. What are they saying?
3. Where are they saying it?

In order to provide some context, this social media audit will also attempt to answer the above three questions for several of Anchor Steam’s competitors.

OVERVIEW

Anchor Steam is essentially the flagship beer of the Anchor Brewing Company. Utilizing traditional brewing techniques and ingredients, Anchor Brewing is considered a craft beer^[1]. According to its website, Anchor Brewing relies on word of mouth in favor of advertising and marketing campaigns^[2]. Another important aspect of Anchor Brewing is its strict rules regarding how its beers can be distributed and strives for a slow expansion of its market area^[3]. These factors result in a unique opportunity to study how a specialty item with limited distribution is being discussed on the internet.

OUTLINE

This report will examine Anchor Steam’s presence in the social media landscape:

1. Online profile – what kind of official presence (official sites and communities) does Anchor Steam’s have on the internet? Also, what kind of impact is this presence having?
2. The blogosphere – What influential^[4] blogs are discussing Anchor Steam and what do they have to say?

Executive Summary

Anchor Steam is a product that, despite the lack of marketing and advertising campaigns, is a popular topic of conversation on the internet. Blogs and other websites that discuss Anchor Steam are not limited to beer themes. Many of these sites are dedicated to food, San Francisco, history, travel and even fashion. While Anchor Steam has had success relying on traditional word of mouth for its marketing purposes, new technologies and online trends might be changing the definition of word of mouth.
This social media audit highlights online conversations relevant to Anchor Steam from June 2009 to November 2009. The data summarizes coverage behavior within the blogosphere regarding Anchor Steam and two of its competitors; Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada. The overall industry is explored, followed by a closer look at conversations on the individual brands themselves.

Request the full report for a closer look at the conversations governing each individual brand, including an examination of web presence, the distribution of commenting parties by community and a look at notable influencers in each space.

SUMMARY

This social media audit highlights online conversations relevant to the online video industry from January 2009 to October 2009. The data summarizes coverage behavior within influential blogs regarding online video brands in relation to one another. The overall industry is explored, followed by a closer look at conversations on the individual brands themselves. All metrics included in this report were recorded on 15 October 2009.

The following brands are examined in this report:

- Hulu

- Crackle

- TV.com

- YouTube

INDUSTRY

As online video distribution rises in both popularity and profitability, traditional media distributors have, in the past year, initiated ventures into new partnerships and platforms to keep up with the trend.

The ever popular, Hulu, governed by NBC, Fox and ABC continues to threaten traditional network television. With CBS’s TV.com and YouTube’s partnership with Sony’s Crackle, network presence online has become increasingly apparent. Finally, geolocation tracking on Hulu prevents those outside of the US from accessing its contents, giving an additional edge to sites like YouTube.

In June, Editor-in-Chief of ZDNet, Larry Dignan commented on the growth of online video by saying that, “Internet TV viewing appears to be a ‘second screen experience’ as 74 percent of consumers view content on their computer monitors without connecting to the TV. In other words, Internet TV doesn’t supplant the traditional stuff.”^[1] He additionally cites Hulu as the biggest legitimate threat to the cable distribution model.

Two large issues have arisen with the advent of online video: profitability and content rights. YouTube has yet to generate profit as it continues to operate, albeit famously, at a loss. Hulu experienced several content battles where shows like “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Arrested Development” were pulled by, what many bloggers speculate, was a power move by content owners. Video distribution across various hardware and software platforms has also grown tenser. As Hulu pulled its availability on Boxee and PlayStation 3, many online viewers are attempting to find hacks to regain access.

Quality content is indeed difficult to attain, as reported by Wired writer, Daniel Roth, “First, national and international theatrical distributors pay to show a film in their theaters. Next, there’s the DVD and pay-per-view windows. Then there’s the combined $1.7 billion a year that channels like HBO, Starz, and Showtime spend to secure the exclusive rights to show movies to subscribers. (Each studio usually signs with just one pay channel; all Warner Bros. movies appear only on HBO, while Sony’s go to Starz.) After a few months, the pay-TV networks hand off their rights to broadcasters and ad-supported cable stations. A few years later, the premium channels get the films back, giving them exclusive rights to air them. The windowing system can keep films locked up for years; Disney’s “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” came out in 2007 and is spoken for until 2016.”^[2]

Online video platforms, however, allow consumers to view quality programming at little to no cost. Many bloggers online have already become accustomed to this lifestyle and would likely protest to changes without increased offerings. Online video is a win for advertisers as well, as they gain the ability to create dynamic, interactive ads that can grab viewer data via participation in ways traditional television advertisements cannot. Tameka Kee, writer for paidContent, commented in June, “…premium video sites like Hulu and TV.com are finally starting to deliver ad rates that are greater than what the networks would get for their shows on air. Running an ad during The Simpsons on Hulu, for example, costs about $60/CPM, Bloomberg reports; running the same ad during prime-time on TV costs about $20-$40/CPM—or over 60 percent less in some cases. (…) That’s where the shift in perception—at least from an advertiser standpoint—seems to be taking place. ‘The reason people are paying such a high premium for these ads on the Internet is they do have a captive audience,’ David Poltrack, CBS’ chief research officer, told Bloomberg. ‘You know you have eyes on the screen.’”^[3]

Other competitors include Netflix, whose ventures into online and television streaming make it popular with many. It’s offerings of movie downloads on video game consoles like the Xbox 360 were also deemed successful.^[4] Additionally, movie kiosks focused on new movie rentals have also risen in popularity but compete primarily with the DVD rental market.

Traditional cable networks, HBO, Cinemax and Showtime have also entered the fray with TV Everywhere in attempts to preserve the model of cable television with an online edition. ZDNet’s Larry Dignan commented on plans for TV Everywhere in August: “You bet cable providers are trying to preserve their models, but is that such a bad thing? If I’m already subscribing to cable channels I should be able to view them online. And if that’s more of a convenience for me I’m all for it. If TV Everywhere flops there are always other online video outlets.”^[5]

Several influential bloggers still see a strong role for cable television, even with the proliferation of online alternatives. Stacey Higginbotham, a technology and finance blogger for GigaOM prefers the convenience of cable television, stating in August that, “consumers still have to jump through a lot of hoops to assemble their best bundle today. That’s why it’s easier to subscribe to cable TV from a service provider to get the video content you want, rather than buy DVDs, subscribe to a variety of sports packages online, or hunt down last night’s episode of ‘30 Rock’ on Hulu or YouTube.”^[6]

Request the full report for a closer look at the conversations governing each individual brand, including an examination of web presence, the distribution of commenting parties by community and a look at notable influencers in each space.