At the start of September, Buffalo Wild Wings leveraged the start of the new college football season by debuting a new ad and experiential campaign called ‘Greatest Of All Times’
Produced by The Martin Agency, the marketing push was spearheaded by a hero 60-second spot debuting during the Ohio State vs Minnesota college football game on Fox which featured quarterbacks Josh Allen and Kyler Murray and Los Angeles Sparks forward Chiney Ogwumike.
Alongside the core 60-second commercial which debuted during the primetime game, the campaign includes three 15-second ads that highlight its food and beverage offerings which have been updated to included football-inspired menu items.
As well as the above-the-line advertising, the sports bar quick service chain also held a head-to-head competitions at locations in Minneapolis (Minnesota) and Columbus (Ohio) including wing-eating challenges. During these Buffalo Wild Wings partnered with Converge Technology Solutions to use IBM Watson to measure noise levels, tone and keywords at the sports bars with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies to determine a winner.
Cheers and roars will lead to a higher score, while groans and muted noise will lower the score and points will be displayed on a scoreboard in each bar. The winning city of two out of three of the contests will receive a donation to the Buffalo Wild Wings Foundation to support local youth, giving the campaign a charitable, purpose-driven element.
Comment:
The autumn start of the college and NFL football seasons is a key period for Buffalo Wild Wings and other sports bars and restaurants. But, while this campaign seeks to highlight in-person dining, the US has yet to see a full return of physical pre-pandemic activities due to the rise of the delta variant of Covid-19.
This marks the first time that this kind of AI technology has been used as part of a head-to-head competition between two different sites.
It follows on from previous Buffalo Wild Wings digital tech sports initiatives like its multichannel marketing push leveraging the 2021 NCAA March Madness tournament which included a TikTok challenge that the chain featured on TV screens in its restaurants.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.