What Happened
In its latest content marketing move, beer giant AB-InBev is teaming up popular indie music site Pitchfork to launch October, a new online publication that will focus on draft beers. The company will work with the Conde Nast-owned publisher to create beer-related content such as reviews small-batch brews, essays on topics like beer trading, a directory of beers and, eventually, a regular lineup of events and podcasts. Aiming to broaden awareness and interest in beer-brewing culture, the site won’t carry any AB-InBev branding and the Pitchfork team will have full editorial control.
What Brands Need To Do
This is an interesting development in branded content marketing. Previously, for example, when Diageo partnered with Thrillist Media Group’s CoLab to launch cocktail recipe site Supercall, the site has to devote a set percentage of its content to Diageo brands such as Tanqueray gin. As brands continue to leverage branded niche content to effectively reach their target audiences, they will need to expand their work with content creators to ensure the authenticity and credibility of the content they produce.
Source: Digiday
