Social media has changed many things, even the way we watch sports. Watching a game today has become a multi-tasking activity; one eye on the game, the other on Twitter and fingers on the keyboard, reading others’ comments all the while. Buffalo Wild Wings gets this and has used it to their advantage for their Super Bowl marketing campaign. The American casual dining restaurant and sports bar franchise has been encouraging sports fans to use the hashtag #BWWPostGame. In an ESPN-like online newscast called “Buffalo Wild Wings Posts Post Game Report”, two anchors report on the games using only fans’ Tweets. The tagline for the show: “Yesterday’s game-time tweets, today.”
In just a few days, the video has garnered more than 265,000 views across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The Buffalo Wild Wings commercial is a great example of the importance, power and potential that social media holds when it comes down to marketing campaigns. The Wild Wings franchise has managed to capitalize on the buzz surrounding a real-time event such as the NFL playoffs, without pouring millions of dollars into TV networks’ pockets for an official commercial. The brand has thus found a way to keep the public engaged and be part of the game. In breaking away from more traditional Super Bowl advertising gimmick, the restaurant has served up a fun and entertaining twist to traditional social media campaigns.
