FSR Magazine: Buffalo Wings & Rings Improves Customer Loyalty Through Gamification

The Pokemon Go craze shed light onto the impact that America's obsession with games can have on the franchise business. Restaurant brands throughout the industry have been looking for ways to "gamify" their marketing to attract more customers, including rapidly growing elevated sports restaurant Buffalo Wings & Rings.

According to a recent article in FSR, restaurants are finding that gamification can help build stronger brand loyalty and provides rich customer data to better tailor future campaigns. Buffalo Wings & Rings jumped on the fantasy football wave as a way to attract those playing.

“We did try to do something ourselves,” Diane Matheson, Director of Marketing for Buffalo Wings & Rings, told FSR. “But at the end of our day, are we game development experts? That’s just not our forte. Our forte is great environment, great experience, great food. There’s no sense in us trying to reinvent fantasy football, but we can help enhance the experience.”

The Buffalo Wings & Rings fantasy football package includes draft sheets, boards, Wi-Fi, and a $25 gift certificate reward for league winners - but also includes "punishment cards" for fantasy football faux pas such as choosing a kicker in the first round, which could mean taking down some of Buffalo Wings & Rings' hottest wings.