Buffalo Wild Wings loses CMO amid spend increases (Score 34)

Sales lead: Be prepared to reach out to this chain once it finds a new marketing chief. 

• Buffalo Wild Wings (BWW) lost its CMO, Rita Patel, in October 2022. 
• BWW's parent company, Inspire Brands, reassigned Patel as Arby's CMO. 
  • Patel spent about two years as BWW's marketing chief.
• We will be sure to update you as soon as a replacement is announced.

BWW's target demographic: Male millennial & Gen-Z sports fans

Once BWW finds a new CMO, it will likely:

• Continue increasing ad spend
• Experiment with new marketing channels
• Review the agency roster

Broadcast insights (TV ad creative spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)

• YTD spend: BWW spent around $29.9m on national TV ads YTD, a 28% increase from $23.3m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2021. 
• Last year: Full-year spend more than doubled from $17.7m in 2020 to $36.4m in 2021. 
• 2022 ad programming: It placed ads during programming such as College Basketball, NFL Football, NBA Basketball, SportsCenter, and College Football. 

Digital and social insights (digital ad spend, effectiveness, impressions, and performance)

• YTD spend: BWW spent approximately $36.4m on digital display ads YTD, a 28% increase from $28.4m spent in this channel during the same time period of 2021. 
• YTD data: 4b impressions via Facebook (53%), Instagram (24%), desktop video (22%), and Twitter (1%).
• Last year: Full-year spend equaled $40.9m in 2020 and $41m in 2021. 
• Ad location: It placed 100% of these ads directly onto sites such as facebook.com, instagram.com, youtube.com, twitch.tv, and twitter.com. 

Additional channel insights  

• BWW also invests in OOH, print, radio, and local broadcast TV. 

Agency analysis:

• Opportunity: These accounts will become vulnerable as soon as BWW finds a new CMO. 
• Agency roster:
  • Zenith Media: media AOR
  • The Martin Agency: creative AOR
  • Norton Creative: creative (menu & merchandising)
  • Zeno Group: PR

Insight Sources: Broadcast insights estimated by iSpot; digital spend insights estimated by Pathmatics; additional channel insights estimated by Kantar.