How could Buffalo Wild Wings stand out in the stampede of March Madness mania? They knew they had to go beyond traditional commercial placements and standard sponsorship stuff. But how could BWW credibly tap into the fervor of the tournament, and place the brand at the center of the bracket-busting frenzy in March of 2024?
Our starting point was simple: Everyone does brackets, but by embracing the brand’s namesake — literally — we could create a truly unique and sharable spectacle.
March Madness is all about the brackets. It rewards fans that have the conviction to pick winners, pit their picks against others’, and let the chips fall where they may.
Working closely with BWW’s creative AOR Anomaly, Loop developed the groundbreaking live gameshow “Beat The Buffalo.” The show let fans go head-to-head to pit their brackets against not just with each other, but also against Jack, a real, live buffalo. That’s right. We trained a real, majestic buffalo to select NCAA basketball winners, and then challenged fans to beat his picks. Many did, some didn’t, and everyone had their minds blown. It’s an innovative take on the familiar March Madness bracket competition, where contestants enter their picks against a fellow competitor to see who is right, who is wrong, and who is a buffalo.
The competition streamed live and simultaneously across TikTok and YouTube and was hosted by a hilarious announcer who narrated the action and ramped up the tension. He did giveaways, shouted out people from the live chat and kept the broadcast moving. Fans submitted their bracket picks and then tuned in to see if their human logic could outwit a beast’s bracket. It was goofy, unexpected, and instantly shareable.
Bringing a massive, horned beast into the bracket conversation was a big swing. The result? A living, breathing, absurd twist on the idea of “expert picks” that gave fans the opportunity to engage with something totally new.
Over 100,000 viewers tuned in, actively engaged, and spread the word. The campaign received top-tier coverage from TNT, TBS, Yahoo, and more. We turned a sponsorship activation into a cultural conversation piece—a unique clash between sports know-how and sheer animal instinct. In the heart of March Madness, Buffalo Wild Wings did not blend in. We orchestrated a one-of-a-kind showdown that got everyone talking — and placing their bets on an unexpected champion.
But perhaps most importantly, we broke new ground in the interspecies relationship between bovine and humankind.
