Thursday, July 4, 2013

What will you do for free burritos?


Chipotle has announced a promotion for their 20th anniversary.  They call it a treasure hunt.  To me it sounds like a quiz. 

Here’s how it works.  Starting on July 13, Chipotle will post a puzzle on its Adventurrito.com.  Puzzles will be posted for 19 days, and will incorporate Chipotle history and its brand mission.  For those that aren’t experts on all things Chipotle, hints will be available by texting the receipt code from a visit to the restaurant.  Players must solve all 19 puzzles to be entered in the final puzzle.  Along the way, 20 people a day will receive free burritos for a year, while the grand prize winner will receive them for 20 years.  (Lukovitz, 2013)

It all sounds very complicated to me.  And I can’t imagine that it will interest anyone other than true fans.  What do you think?  Will you participate?


Lukovitz, K. (2013, July 1)  Chipotle Celebrates 20th With Treasure Hunt.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved July 3, 2013, from  http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/203624/chipotle-celebrates-20th-with-treasure-hunt.html?edition=61771#axzz2Y5kekrzE


5 comments:

Unknown said...

I can't say very much about the targeting here that isn't a complete guess. I can speak from personal experience that Chipotle does "seem" to do well with people I know around my age and education level. I can only attribute this seemingly positive attribution to their market position as a reasonably trusted and accessible brand for 'mexican' offerings, filling in as a slightly more competent and robust version of what Taco Bell provided in the '90s, if more upscale.

I was told of this competition last week. I do not regularly eat at Chipotle. In fact, last week, I was at a Chipotle with some friends but did not order anything.

However, I like puzzles. As a video-gamer, some of my significant game purchases have been motivated by the primary puzzle content of a game (puzzles of various formats are being implemented in various genres of video gaming). I purchased the new Nintendo 3DS XL handheld console because of the release of a new entry in a famous puzzle game series. And the promise of free food for doing puzzles is enticing in the sense that even if I don't manage to win free burritos, I'll get a bunch of free puzzles to work on.

So when I was told about this competition last week, I was genuinely excited. And I'll admit that it has planted the brand Chipotle firmly in my head space when I rarely if ever even thought of the brand beforehand. It's too early to say whether I'll make the snap decision to buy a lunch burrito at Chipotle, but I wouldn't be particularly surprised if I did.

grace_legends said...

Well, it sounds like a wonderful opportunity to amuse some housewives whose kids in schools and husbands at work. I think they would be a good target. Which mom would miss the opportunity of discount (saving) and please their husbands with fresh free burritos!

Unknown said...

Oh! It reminded me of my school days "Treasure Hunt". It sounds funny as well as interesting, even though it does not matter to those, who are not so big fans of chipotle(burritos). Yet it might interest those who want to catch up for some puzzle solving contest. Nevertheless, gift is a gift, and why not give it a try?

Definitely, loved the progressive style of engagement by indirectly inducing the people to have a bite even if one wasn't a lover of Chipotle food, one can share the prize with friends or dear ones. The added feeling of winning a free ride on Chipotle food will always be there.”

Anonymous said...

The truth, in my opinion I do not agree with what they are doing, I think the customer has to make a huge effort if the want win this contest, and the customer don't want to do a big effort, even if you are giving free burritos for a year.

In my case, I am not motivated at all for this contest. The probability of winning, and the amount of things you need to do, does not make me noise, so I prefer to remain a simple buyer and not a participant.

If you look in the publication, only 18 people put like on Facebook and 14 on Twitter, with this corroborate my opinion, because, as is usual when is good advertising or competition, the people sharing a lot in social network, and talking about that.

thanks!
Maria

dkr said...

Sounds VERY complicated and seems targeted at the most loyal fans. I would imagine they would want a promotion designed to get others into the stores. And the prize is pretty "cheap" IMO.