Buffalo Wild Wings World Cup Fannerisms to Launch Instagram Presence

For Buffalo Wild Wings,® Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD), being “all sports to all people” means joining the excitement surrounding the popular sport of professional soccer by engaging in-restaurant as the place to watch the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament and also online through a new channel for the brand, Instagram. Football and fútbol alike are important to the brand, especially as the World Cup takes the nation by storm. Periscope, social agency of record for Buffalo Wild Wings, is set to introduce #Fannerisms, a World Cup social campaign on Instagram starting the week of June 9 as festivities begin in Brazil.

There are all kinds of World Cup fans, from the passionate yellers to the folks who show up to watch games with friends and socialize. And Buffalo Wild Wings wants to give every type their due with humorous caricatures called Fannerisms that speak to their own inner fandom. First Buffalo Wild Wings will share caricatures on Instagram, then they’ll ask fans to share their own by taking photos of themselves enjoying the World Cup at B-Dubs with #Fannerism. Submissions will be rewarded using Instagram’s direct feature, helping provide fans with the opportunity to fuel ongoing World Cup #fannerisms throughout the tournament.

“Buffalo Wild Wings provides the ultimate social experience for our sports fans. In the social space it’s important for us to engage with all sports, including the World Cup,” said Bob Ruhland, Vice President of North American Marketing at Buffalo Wild Wings. “Periscope has helped us take our social presence to the next level with real-time engagement and monitoring as well as providing us with relevant, fun and engaging content.”

At Buffalo Wild Wings, “social” has multiple meanings — serving as the local place to gather to eat wings, drink beer and watch sports with your buddies while socializing and a place that joins you on social media platforms as your second screen during the game. Buffalo Wild Wings guests, or “most valuable players” (MVPs), are highly socially active, and the instigators of fun. This summer, World Cup fans join the bunch.

“We began by collecting insights from the existing traction for the brand on Instagram and found nearly 1 million photos uploaded of our fans sharing their experiences prior to the brand joining the platform,” says Evan Carpenter, Periscope’s senior community strategist. “Because of this and the fact that the Buffalo Wild Wings World Cup watcher is between the ages of 18 and 34, is highly social and has a higher propensity to share photos, we knew this was the best place to bring our World Cup efforts to life.”

Whether its during the Super Bowl, where a tweet at a crucial game moment sent out by Periscope strategists gained more than 30,000 retweets, or having a large presence during overtime in March Madness, Periscope has helped make Buffalo Wild Wings known for being in the moment with sports fans. This year, during the World Cup, it will be the same experience fans have come to know and love, on a new platform.

About Periscope: Periscope is one of the fastest-growing independent creative agencies in the nation, with 495 employees. Based in Minneapolis, with global offices in Hong Kong, Delhi and Toronto, Periscope offers a full spectrum of marketing services to a wide range of acclaimed brands including Bridgestone, Target, Arctic Cat, UnitedHealth Group, Columbia Sportswear, ExxonMobil and more. Visit us at periscope.com.

About Buffalo Wild Wings
Buffalo Wild Wings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BWLD), founded in 1982 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a growing owner, operator and franchisor of Buffalo Wild Wings® restaurants featuring a variety of boldly flavored, made-to-order menu items including its namesake Buffalo, N.Y.-style chicken wings. The Buffalo Wild Wings menu specializes in 21 mouth-watering signature sauces and seasonings with flavor sensations ranging from Sweet BBQ™ to Blazin’®. Guests enjoy a welcoming neighborhood atmosphere that includes an extensive multi-media system for watching their favorite sporting events. Buffalo Wild Wings is the recipient of hundreds of “Best Wings” and “Best Sports Bar” awards from across the country. There are currently 1,025 Buffalo Wild Wings locations across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

To stay up-to-date on all the latest events and offers for sports fans and wing lovers, like Buffalo Wild Wings on Facebook, follow @BWWings on Twitter and visit www.BuffaloWildWings.com.