BRIGHTON -- It seems fitting that the world headquarters of Wetbeer Inc. is tucked away in a pink building above a dress shop in Brighton.
That's because little else about the product, developed by local entrepreneur Stephen E. Brown, follows a traditional business plan or setting.
Wetbeer started life last August as a nonexistent product marketed on an Internet Web site as a parody of the dry beers produced by mega-brewers such as Michelob. Visitors to the Web site could buy Wetbeer T-shirts and caps, scroll through a dozen barroom jokes or register for a "full-ride scholarship" to Beer Camp in Kentucky. But they couldn't buy a brew.
The 25,000 monthly hits to the site, from as far away as Brazil and Denmark, included so many requests for the actual product that Brown said he had little choice but to begin bottling beer. Brown, 34, is the one-time student manager of the Michigan State University hockey team and the former public relations director for Penske Motorsports tracks, including Michigan Speedway near Brooklyn.
"I had no beer, no distributor and no brewery," Brown said, recalling the early days of Wetbeer. "It proves this is a business driven by gimmicks, hooks and clever advertising."
Brown says he has sold 3,000 cases of the Minnesota-made Wetbeer since its debut about two months ago on party store shelves in Michigan. Kroger will begin carrying the product in 45 select stores in Metro Detroit beginning Saturday.
Wetbeer, with irreverent slogans like "Wet Yourself," seems to have hit the right note with beer consumers.
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"It's a unique, fun item we can play with," said Darin Vickers, Kroger senior grocery category manager, who likens the taste of Wetbeer to Budweiser.
More importantly, Brown's experience illustrates a business trend that is increasingly fueled by the Internet: marketing that hatches before the actual product. Beer seems especially suited to this reverse business process, the experts say.
"There are several trends at work here," said Bob Dodge, head of the department of marketing at Eastern Michigan University. "It's easier to succeed with the Internet because you have access to people with money. Women have accepted beer as a desirable product, and there is a tremendous demand to drink something different."
The whole experience has been invigorating and draining for Brown, who is founder and chief executive and the only employee of the company. The father of three had to wipe out his family's $30,000 savings to fund the new enterprise. In January, he sold 45 percent of the business to eight investors, mainly friends and family members, to raise the $135,000 needed to pay for Wetbeer packaging, an office and his salary.
"Everything you read about entrepreneurs -- the not sleeping at night, the frustration, the elation -- is true," he said. "But the e-mails keep driving me."
He points to one e-mail that asks, "Where can I get a Wet one?" and goes on to suggest a local drain commissioner would be a "great spokesman for your beer."
Wetbeer, with irreverent slogans like "Wet Yourself," seems to have hit the right note with juvenile-minded beer consumers who love the idea of talking lizards and frogs and events such as the Bud Bowl.
In the meantime, Brown has a sheaf of other ideas that may also find their way to the Internet. There's the Pool Pal, an elasticized cover for chaise lounge chairs; the Puzzle Pal, a plastic holder for loose puzzle pieces, and Fold-Aid, a device to help fold laundry.
"The Internet has so much potential," Brown said. "Especially for a guy with ideas."
