Buffalo Wild Wings for the first time next month is featuring a slate of craft beers from MillerCoors nationwide as its “Beer of the Month.”
While the national restaurant chain, the largest MillerCoors customer in the on-premise, features MillerCoors beers every year, this is the first time a national promotion includes the company’s regional craft partners: Saint Archer, Terrapin, Hop Valley and Revolver.
The offerings, which will differ by region depending on distribution, include beers from those breweries as well as the company’s nationally distributed craft brands, Leinenkugel’s and Blue Moon.
The October timing is a boon for MillerCoors. In part because of football season, foot traffic tends to pick up in the fourth quarter at Buffalo Wild Wings, which carries the tagline “Wings. Beer. Sports.”
“For us, it’s not only great for sales, it’s an opportunity to introduce their guests to our core craft beers, and a chance for us to reach drinkers who may not have engaged with our products before,” says Jean Winter, a national account executive with MillerCoors on the Buffalo Wild Wings account.
The craft brews starring in October are part of a larger promotional strategy with the restaurant chain, which also is featuring Miller Lite and Coors Light on a fall football special supported with a national television ad through November. Most B-Dubs locations will offer 38-ounce pitchers of either Miller Lite, Coors Light or Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light, for $5.
Twenty-two ounce Miller Lite and Coors Light drafts also will be featured on “Game Day Special” promotions during October and November.
For the October “Beer of the Month” promotion, each restaurant will feature the beers with point-of-sale marketing materials to support the promotion, including posters, tap hangers, as well as video and other displays. Some stores also will offer price discounts.
Beers featured for the Beer of the Month include Leinenkugel’s Berry Shandy, Leinenkugel’s Honey Weiss, Blue Moon Mango Wheat, Hop Valley Citrus Mistress, Saint Archer Hazy IPA, Terrapin Up-Hi IPA, Terrapin Luau Krunkles and Revolver Long-Range Pils. They’ll join other MillerCoors beers already on tap handles at Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants across the country.
“Individually, our craft brands are regional powerhouses,” says Paul Verdu, vice president of sales for Tenth and Blake, the MillerCoors craft and import division. “Collectively, they cover a majority of the United States, so it’s great to be able to bring them together to partner with such an amazing national customer like Buffalo Wild Wings.”