The football campaign in focus
The Martin Agency developed Buffalo Wild Wings’ latest messaging. It will feature eight TV spots throughout the NFL season. Again, as noted before, the ads “encourage sports fans to ditch the obligations that prevent them from watching the games in a bar filled with fellow fans, hot wings, and cold beer at the ready.”
The lead spot is a 30-second “Mancave” ad that calls the hideouts “one of the key enemies of football.”
“Mancaves aren’t some masculine refuge where all the guys come to hang out. That place is Buffalo Wild Wings, where jumping on furniture and screaming at the top of your lungs is actually encouraged,” the company said.
Additional creative includes Buffalo Wild Wings’ 15-second “High Five” run, which showcases some of its new offerings, like its value-oriented Football Game Day Menu that promotes items beginning at $5.
- $5 Bar Food– Chili con Queso or Hatch Queso, Mozzarella Sticks or Fried Pickles
- $5 Medium Pitcher (38 ounce)– Bud Light, Coors Light or Miller Lite
- $9 Large Pitcher (60 ounce)– Bud Light, Coors Light or Miller Lite
Other changes afoot
Buffalo Wild Wings’ also announced a new hand-breaded chicken lineup along with the campaign. The platform includes three new items, all beer-battered with Lagunitas IPA: Chicken Tenders, the Southern Chicken Sandwich, and the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich.
Executive Chef Jamie Carawan headed up creation. Buffalo Wild Wings said it tested eight beer-battered variations, ranging from lagers to wheat beers to India Pale Ales, before landing on the Lagunitas version from a blind taste test.
The brand added the higher alcohol volume creates a unique coating and a hand-breaded chicken product that’s crispy on the outside, while retaining flavorful and juice on the inside.
Tyler Riddle, Buffalo Wild Wings’ director of culinary, earlier called the hand-breaded change “probably the biggest change both culturally and menu-wise that we've ever done.”
The kitchen crew is hand battering chicken tenders and chicken sandwiches in the back of the house. The launch followed Buffalo Wild Wings’ All-American Cheeseburger pulse in March.