Beer fuels social networking: MingleNow 'Clinks' Anheuser-Busch
Blue Lithium Labs spearheaded the launch of MingleNow, an online/offline social network “dedicated to connecting users to their favorite clubs and bars and the people who go there” just two months ago in San Francisco.
MingleNow has fast attracted several hundred thousand minglers and embarks on a nationwide expansion and promotional partnership with “Here’s to Beer,” an Anheuser-Busch initiative designed to “elevate and enhance the image of beer.”
I met with Gurbaksh Chahal, Founder & CEO, Blue Lithium, and Tom Shipley, Director Global Industry Development, Anheuser-Busch, in New York City earlier this week for a first hand take on how the companies aim to spur social networking via “Clinking” to beer drinking.
Chahal underscored to me that the “Clink” initiative encourages MingleNows’ targeted young adult demographic to connect with people who share interests similar to their own, especially while enjoying nightlife enhance by beer.
MingleNow “Clink” encourages minglers to photograph themselves enjoying beer with their friends in a variety of social situations and share them over the MingleNow.com platform.
What is a “Clink”?: A sharp ringing sound made by beer bottles or glasses being hit against each other.
How to “Clink”?: Take a photo of your friends clinking, Tag the photo “clink,” Send from phone to MingleNow.
“Clink Groups”: Minglers place their photos online into a general “Clink” album or into themed “Clink” groups created by fellow “Clinkers.” To encourage interaction, “Clink” ratings are rewarded with promotions and prizes.
Why is Anheuser-Busch teaming up with a nightlife-focused social network? Shipley told me by collaborating with MingleNow, the beer company helps promote the sharing of real world beer experiences.
Anheuser Busch is the leading American brewer, garnering nearly 50% of U.S. beer sales. It’s dedicated “Here’s to Beer” interactive Website launched about eighteen months ago to encourage greater appreciation and enjoyment of beer, any beer. As the market share leader, Anheuser wins as overall beer consumption increases.
The Anheuser Busch-MingleNow social networking via beer “Clinking” brings the “Here’s to Beer” concept offline, to help make beer the drink of choice for nightlife “trendsetters,” rather than wine or liquor.
The MingleNow online/offline connection dovetails with the Anheuser Busch aim to spur real world networking over beer. MingleNow “bridges the two worlds by connecting people to the bars, clubs and restaurants where they hang out and to the other people who hang out there.”
Why is BlueLithium online ad network keen on building a trendy offline social network?
Chahal told me his mission to reinvent the ad network includes continually enhancing behavioral targeting solutions for advertisers and publishers. With a targeted MingleNow user base of 1 million, Chahal aims to develop predictive ad serving formulas for improved behavioral targeting and custom behavioral segmentation across the BlueLithium ad network
Anheuser-Busch is doing some behavioral targeting of its own with MingleNow, beer drinking behavior!