Work Experience - FX and Buffalo Wild Wings

FX is a natural place for Buffalo Wild Wings to reach their consumers. Viewers of FX have the same interests Buffalo Wild Wings is seeking from their customers. The network has been receiving a fair amount of Buffalo Wild Wings’ cable spending, but FX is still looking to increase Buffalo Wild Wings’ efforts on the network to continue helping the restaurant flourish. FX is also outperforming the network Buffalo Wild Wings spends the most money on, ESPN

Buffalo Wild Wings is looking to reach adults age 18-49 and males 18-49 and FX is delivering this audience. According to MRI’s 2008 surveys, FX viewers are 42% more likely than the US average to be 18-49 and also dine out two or more times a week, which is 22% better than ESPN. FX’s male 18-49 viewers have an index of 148 over the US average for visiting a Buffalo Wild Wings two or more times a month. ESPN’s male 18-49 viewers’ index is only 125.

FX is reaching a much younger group of people than the major cable networks. FX’s median age is 33.4 for all viewers (age 2+) while USA and TNT both have median ages over 45. ESPN is also an older network than FX with a median age of 41.5. With Buffalo Wild Wings looking for customers as young as 18 years old, it’s important to take note of FX reaching these demos.

Buffalo Wild Wings also positions itself in its advertisements as a great place to watch a game and FX viewers are very interested in sports as well. MRI reports that FX’s adult 18-49 viewers are all “Super Fans” of the following sports leagues: NCAA College Football, Major League Baseball, NFL, NCAA College Basketball, NBA, and NASCAR. The other bonus of watching a game at a Buffalo Wild Wings is the big screen and HD TVs. Simmons Fall 2008 study shows FX’s male 18-49 viewers underindex the US average for owning a HD TV or a LCD flat panel, and are line with the US average for owning a TV that is 50 inches or bigger. ESPN and ESPN2’s male 18-49 viewers overindex the US average considerably for owning all three kinds of TVs. FX viewers do not have the luxury of having these impressive TVs at home and would have more motivation to go out to watch a big game at a Buffalo Wild Wings.

Buffalo Wild Wings has also branded their restaurants as a great release from work and a place to unwind. One advertisement on TV has all the customers hiding while their boss comes to the restaurant to presumably tell them all to get back to work. The Buffalo Wild Wings website has a special tab called “Boss” where the user can click on it and a fake Microsoft Excel spreadsheet will pop up on the screen. The website also has a list of excuses for missing work or leaving early so the worker can visit the restaurant. FX’s adult 18-49 viewers are more likely to be looking for such an escape while ESPN’s adult 18-49 viewers take their jobs a lot more seriously, according to Simmons’ Fall 2008 study. FX has a higher index than ESPN for agreeing with the statement “I only work at my job for the money”. Also, ESPN has very high indices for agreeing with the statements “I am a workaholic” and “I want to get to the top of my career” while FX’s indices are much lower. It seems ESPN viewers would be less likely to visit Buffalo Wild Wings’ website or use their list of excuses.

FX is doing an excellent job of reaching the people Buffalo Wild Wings are looking for. The FX viewer is young, they like eating out and they visit Buffalo Wild Wings frequently. The FX viewer is also very interested in sports and their lack of high definition or big screen televisions in their home make them more likely to go out to watch the big game. Finally, the FX viewer does not take work too seriously and would want to enjoy the release that Buffalo Wild Wings is offering. FX is delivering on all cylinders and doing it better than ESPN, which is the only cable net receiving more of Buffalo Wild Wings’ cable spending. Buffalo Wild Wings should take advantage of FX’s ability to reach their target consumer by increasing their spending on the network with additional advertising.