Char-Broil Cooks Up Grilling Tour

Grill maker Char-Broil this summer is activating a 33-week mobile grilling tour to promote its Char-Broil Infrared grills. A crew of three accompanies Char-Broil’s 50-foot trailer as it travels to BBQ festivals, NASCAR races, “Taste of”’ festivals and NFL football games to connect with consumers and educate them about infrared grilling. The bonus: free food hot off the grill.

While this is Char-Broil’s ninth year on the road with a mobile tour, this summer’s effort has grown in geographical coverage and includes sponsors Miller Lite, Dole, Bubba Burgers and Johnsonville, which provide food and beverages for sampling. AmeriGas, also a sponsor, provides fuel for the grills.

Char-Broil’s trailer is equipped with a full kitchen and a pull-down stage with a six-foot prize wheel that attendees can spin for giveaways such as t-shirts and other freebies as they taste one-ounce sample of burgers, chicken, pork and grilled fruit from the tour sponsors. They can play backyard games such as bean bag tossing and a “Grill to Go” race in which players have to collapse a grill run it around a cone and set it up again. Attendees can register to win a Char-Broil Big Easy oil-less turkey fryer given away at each stop on the tour and opt-in to receive emails from Char-Broil. A tour website and Facebook page round out the experience.

“Consumers want to hang out around our trailer, and then we start delivering our messaging about what Char-Broil is and what our infrared grills do as we cook live and give out samples,” Michelle Zeller, vp-marketing at Char-Broil, told Buzz. “The biggest benefit of infrared cooking is that the food comes out juicy. It is hard to describe, but if you taste it, you understand it. We want to educate people and show them, not just tell them about infrared cooking and build Char-Broil awareness.” Agency: Marketing Werks, Chicago