The Story

Mmmm. Chipotle burritos. I’ve been a fan ever since I first stepped foot into one of their chain restaurants. Everyone knows there are numerous burrito chains (e.g. Baja Fresh) and local taquerias, but Chipotle has found a unique niche in this burrito playground. That’s one tasty burrito!

So how does Chipotle differentiate themselves? Through aggressive advertising? No. By going head-to-head with its competitors with seemingly limitless marketing dollars? No way. By proving its story one burrito and one experience at a time? ABSOLUTELY.

BusinessWeek recently spotlighted Chipotle’s strategic marketing efforts in the article, “Burrito Buzz–And So Few Ads.” Instead of spending a gazillion dollars on advertising that may or may not prove its story, Chipotle recently gave away 6,000 burritos at one of its Manhattan stores. The cost to Chipotle of this freebie: $35,000. The cost of running an ad in the New York Times: $cha ching$

You see, Chipotle understands the value of its brand identity — by investing in its burrito to sell itself. By giving away 6,000 burritos, Chipotle is confident that not only will the 6,000 burrito-eaters be continual customers, Chipotle is confident that it now has 6,000 new spokespeople.

The “proof” is in the burrito.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 13th, 2007 at 4:06 pm and is filed under Bank Marketing, Touch points, Experiential Marketing, Branding, Credit Union Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.