March Madness Round-Up: Buffalo Wild Wings, Penske Truck Campaigns

On the court, the NCAA’s Sweet 16 are set to battle it out this weekend to advance to the next round of the big basketball tournament. Off the court, marketers have a case of March Madness of their own, and Chief Marketer is here to highlight some of the best campaigns and insights related to the NCAA Tournament. This week, learn more about Buffalo Wild Wings’ killer social campaign and Penske Truck Leasing’s first March Madness advertising efforts, as well as a look at how brands are reacting to the tournament in real time through social channels:

• Buffalo Wild Wings is betting big on the tournament, and leveraging its #WingWisdom hashtag across social channels to get hungry customers engaged, according to The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. Buffalo Wild Wings is also running a series of nine #WingWisdom TV spots featuring Steve Rannazzisi, who stars as Kevin in “The League” on FX, during the tournament.
• LVB.com reports that Penske Truck Leasing is launching its first March Madness campaign, which features funny ads that focus on what can go wrong when using substandard leased trucks.  The national campaign, which also prompted Penske to refresh its logo, later will include print, digital and social media executions with leading business magazines and websites as well as transportation and logistics industry trade publications and websites.
• Luxury automaker Infiniti experienced a 25 percent boost in brand searches online during last year’s tournament, thanks to its March Madness marketing efforts, according to Automotive News. The brand also has a detailed strategy on its marketing efforts during the tournament, with a focus on its QX60 model during the preliminary rounds this year, then shifting to the Q50 model during the Final Four.
• This Adweek story digs into how brands are reacting to what’s happening in the tournament in real time through social channels. For example, underdog Gerogia State’s upset of Baylor last weekend saw brands scrambling to buy promoted tweets in the moments before and after the game’s dramatic finish, with brands such as Wendy’s Nationwide and Kia Motors tying into the win via promoted tweets aimed at those talking about the game.
• March Madness is a great opportunity for marketers to engage audiences with emotional storytelling across all channels, according to this Business2Community story. These stories need to be accessible and told in a dynamic way that involves the consumer, and brand interactions that engage people with unique, diverse content across websites, mobile apps, video, and other channels maintain their relevance and accessibility.