Beer Gets Social

Anheuser-Busch has announced a partnership with MingleNow.com, a relatively new social network for their “Here’s to Beer” campaign.

MingleNow.com appears to be particularly well-suited to Anheuser-Busch’s campaign. Unlike a network focusing on building online relationships, this social network is set up around real-life meetings in bars, clubs and other gathering places:

The places you like to go define you. MingleNow enables you to meet other people who are attracted to the same places. . . . Most importantly, MingleNow has a built in calendar to organize your weekend without having to wade through calls, emails and IMs.

Also, by utilizing a startup, Anheuser-Busch can take advantage of its newness and help to shape the network around their campaign and brand. As MediaPost puts it:

The Anheuser-Busch effort differs on a few fronts. The company partnered with a startup so it could be integrated during the development process. The only brand appearing directly on the site is “Here’s to Beer,” a beer industry promotion that A-B is sponsoring exclusively. The promotion invites visitors to post pictures of “clinks”—friends toasting with beer bottles or mugs. MingleNow.com only recently began offering photo-sharing.

If MingleNow.com is able to stick around, by associating with MingleNow.com so early on, Anheuser-Busch will become inextricably linked with a potentially major force in driving online and offline socila networks. Not a bad idea.