Profitable Marketing: McDonalds, Starbucks and Now is Time for Chipotles Growth Strategy is a look at how Chipotle focuses on word-of-mouth marketing to popularize itself.
Chipotle’s website is minimalist and a lot of fun, too. Their food is better. There is absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing, that I crave more than their burrito-in-a-bowl. I love it. I tried Qdoba’s “naked” burrito, which sounds sexy, but is everything but. Something about the chipotle taste makes me want to go back for more.
Now read Business Week’s article on how Chipotle spends so little on advertising and still manages to grow phenomenally. Instead of serving ads, they serve their A-grade food, for free sometimes:
When Chipotle came to midtown Manhattan last July, it gave burritos away to 6,000 people, some of whom stood in line for two hours. The stunt cost $35,000, figures James W. Adams, Chipotle’s marketing director. In return, the company landed 6,000 new spokespeople. “You could spend that same amount on an ad in The New York Times and you wouldn’t have that many people talking about you,” Adams points out. “The response to the food is almost always positive. It’s unique and it’s tasty.”
Heck there’s even a blog about Chipotle (Where “blog” stands for burrito log, it seems).
I have personally introduced at least 10 people to chipotle. I myself went there first after being told of a friend’s girlfriend who woudn’t eat anywhere else. So what is it that I love about Chipotle?
- I like the fact that their food is organic - everything(including the meat) is grown organically, naturally. Admittedly, their beans are not 100% organic, but the fact that they want it to be provides economic incentive to organic farmers
- I love the way the food tastes
- I love how much food they give, and that you can limit your portions if you want
- I love the simplicity of ordering food at Chipotle - fewer choices, but really you can get a lot of variation in taste with the choices offered
- I love the music that’s playing at the place - always different, always interesting
I don’t know how many people will end up at a Chipotle’s after reading this, but this I am sure of - you’ll love it, and think it worth every dollar spent.
5 responses so far ↓
chipotle-eating-greg // Mar 18, 2007 at 11:13 pm
hey - thanks for the link.
by the way, not all of their food is organic. i wrote about it a while ago [1] but it was covered in a business week interview with steve ells [2]
i agree though - it’s a step in the right direction and that makes it easier to make more steps in the future!
[1] http://chipotlog.com/blog/greg/chipotle-founder-steve-ells-interviewed-in-businessweek
[2] http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/feb2007/id20070216_695485.htm
Adelino de Almeida // Mar 23, 2007 at 10:25 am
Thanks for the reference. Indeed, with my post I also became part of Chipotle’s word-of-mouth marketing.
Aside from enjoying their food (just took the family there this week) I am impressed how they have been able to grow their business by focusing on product quality. There are nearly no coupons, no promos and no TV adds, and yet their business grows! More importantly, word-of-mouth is not based on gimmicks but on … the quality of their product and service
foodie // Apr 27, 2007 at 2:34 pm
FYI. the meats at Chipotle aren’t ORGANIC…they are naturally raised…huge difference. and not even all stores have naturally raised meats. they are trying hard to make it 100%, but they need more farmers.
yum.
Orderer // Apr 27, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Yeah, foodie, thanks for pointing out the difference. I do appreciate that they make an effort in the right direction…
ChipotLoser // Oct 16, 2007 at 2:16 pm
I love it so much, I have been eating at Chipotle twice a day, everyday. Something amazing has happened. Since starting, I have been losing over 4 pounds a week, every week.
I’m writing about it at my site. I also put exactly what I am eating each day. Check it out.
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