They clearly had a commitment to get the deal done. That commitment was not there on the part of Microsoft. I made it clear to board and management, and Jerry made it clear to troops that it was a very high probability this deal was going to get done because they have all the money in the world and can make it happen. Had Microsoft managed it differently, the outcome would have been the InBev and Anheuser-Busch outcome, without question.

PaidContent reports InBev CEO Carlos Brito has promised more of the same for Anheuser-Busch marketing. The one time A-B tried to get innovative was with Bud.tv, an online-video website. That failed because no one thinks of a beer website as a video destination. Another problem: Adult beverage makers have to jump through hoops to make sure they don't accidentally market to anyone under 21 online. As the social networks can attest, it's nearly impossible to verify a Web user's age. Google likes to pretend that buying ads in offline media is too complex, and is desperately in need of its engineering talents. But the truth is, as any media buyer will tell you over a beer, dropping $1.3 billion is so much simpler on TV. (Photo by Daquella Manera)