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Success pours from Buffalo Wild Wings' beer program

The surprising element of success at Buffalo Wild Wings is not just the restaurant's wings, according to CEO Sally Smith in her BAR Keynote Speech at the National Restaurant Association's 2015 show in Chicago.

June 12, 2015 by Nicole Troxell — Associate Editor, Networld Media Group

The surprising element of success at Buffalo Wild Wings is not just the restaurant's wings, according to CEO Sally Smith in her BAR Keynote Speech at the National Restaurant Association's 2015 show in Chicago.

The secret of its success? Beer. Bufffalo Wild Wings' beer sales amount to 25 percent of total sales, topping even those from soda, an anomaly for the beverage industry as a whole, Smith said.

Smith offered a series of steps the company consistently follows for developing products, particularly its beer program: information and insight, ideation, development, validation, refinement and communication

To gain information and insight, BWW's poured resources into its beer program. They collaborated with investors and an experienced team that upgrades products by keeping up with the newest insights. Before launch of a new item, Smith's team relies on research to inform their ideas. Once that information leads to an idea, the team develops the item and tests it. The company then utilizes fellow employees who fit the restaurant demographic to test products and provide feedback via focus groups.

Feedback is a way of obtaining your own research, which is how BWW uses its focus groups. The group can provide suggestions about what to change in a product, and move the process onto the refinement stage.

The last step, communication, entails marketing.

Each month BWW showcases the "Beer of the Month," by talking about the beer itself and not just the brand. BWW's highlights the features of each beer because much like the trend toward quality food, customers increasingly care about quality beer. 

Now the company is jumping on the local products trend by encouraging stores to feature local and regional craft beers in their area. However, Smith said, it's important to consider whether the beer fits well with your brand and can be easily executed. A recent promotion paired Blue Moon with BWW wings in an advertisement, which tied into the brand with the launch of Blue Moon barbecue sauce, as part of the company's "Sauce Lab." Operators should ask themselves not only whether an item is brand compatible, but if it fits with the company's marketing strategy and is the right time. If so, guests will connect with the product. When you know your products are guest-driven, you can "anticipate and avoid any 'uh-oh' moments" that result from uninformed decisions, according to Smith.

BWW's strategy is working: craft beer sales climbed from 6.5 percent to 11 percent within three years, and now comprises 34 percent of total beer sales. Smith stressed that collaboration and utilizing every resource possible is why the company's beer program became a game changer, "It matters that you have a collaborative process," she said. BWW researched which beers pair best with wings, which also led to an expansion in wine offerings and a steady increase in sales.

"The overall beverage industry is declining," Smith said. "You can lose ground fast if you’re not proactive."

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