Heineken USA is proud to receive Buffalo Wild Wing’s 2012 Emerging Partner Award. The prestigious BWW award is presented to a company that has shown the exceptional ability to partner with BWW and drive overall business within their specific category as well as crossover to other categories with unique, out-of-the-box initiatives and ideas. Nominees are selected and voted on by several levels within the BWW organization including Marketing and Brand Management; Franchise Consultants; Regional Managers; Vice Presidents and Franchise Community Members.
“The team at Buffalo Wild Wings truly understands the importance of teamwork and leadership and values a partner who puts these concepts into action every day,” said Barney O’Connell, National Account Manager for Heineken USA. “In 2011, we put an increased emphasis on developing our on-premise presence and made strategic investments to support our National Account partnerships. We have added nine dedicated Key Account Managers calling on BWW as well as local on-premise managers to support individual BWW locations throughout the country. receiving this award is an honor and a confirmation that our strategy is really working. Gong forward, we will continually strive to bring innovative programs that are targeted to their core guests and deliver against the BWW commitment of providing the ultimate social experience for sports fans.”
To select award recipients, BWW takes a number of criteria into account including partners who: bring unique ideas that target their core consumers and engage BWW team members; respond and offer solutions to BWW’s problems; use out-of-the-box thinking; penetrate the organization at multiple levels; adapt to improve their support of BWW; understand BWW’s business and the issues they face; provide additional service; and align with BWW’s vision and goals.
Patrick Kirk, Director of Beverage for BWW, said, “Heineken has emerged as a major impactful partner for BWW. Over the past three years, the Heineken USA National Accounts team has provided unique ways to utilize their assets to drive awareness of our BWW promotions. They provide in-depth social media and consumer insights to help us identify emerging trends and better position our import brands for growth, and they are proactive in helping us educate our staffs and improve our guest’s draught beer experience. Heineken USA’s approach has been to find the best solution for BWW and then figure out how their brands can fit. It’s that mentality and attitude that makes them a true business partner.”
