After
a series of food contamination incidents that began last summer and extended
through this March, Chipotle's same store sales for 1st Q were down 30% and its
stock was down 35%.
In May
they started offering freebies after realizing that their heavy users weren't
coming back. Here's the blog I wrote
then...
I haven't
heard if it's working, but this week they released a new four minute video that
they are hoping will help. Development
of the video began 18 months ago, before the problems started. It goes back to the brand's initial
positioning and message -- the superiority of Chipotle's fresh natural
ingredients over typical fast food. (Lukovitz, 2016)
If you
haven't seen it yet, you can check it out here...
I have
mixed feelings about Chipotle's past video efforts. I voted their introductory ad, which aired on
the 2012 Grammy's best ad of the year.
It's a great example of superior storytelling and since it persuaded
even me to give them a try, it's no surprise that sales increased by 23% in the
first half of that year.
Here's
the blog and video...
But, I
thought their Scarecrow video, released in 2013, was an epic fail since it
reminded me of Soylent Green and made me never want to eat again.
Here's
that blog and video (the link to the video still works) ...
So,
what do you think? Does the new video
work? Is it successfully conveying the
brand positioning? If you stopped eating
at Chipotle, will it make you want to start again? If not, what will?
1 comment:
The new video is cute and well done, like the others, but unfortunately not effective given Chipotle’s current problems. You can still get E. Coli from a chain that implores you to cultivate a better world. And sure, LOVE can be rewarding, but what kind of love are we talking about? Love for computer animated happy endings? Too bad they embarked on this project well before misfortune hit, but perhaps they should have halted production and gone back to square one. In my opinion, the “fresh” ingredients route is dead, or at least on hold for a long while, for Chipotle. It’s time to make up for their mistakes with brand positioning that is daringly self-aware. Really tough needle to thread, but it’s not beyond great marketing minds to figure it out. Glad it’s not me.
I ate at Chipotle the day I watched that video. Because I’m aware that millions of dollars are going into fixing the problem, and that being the next Norovirus victim from a Chipotle is still like getting struck by lightning, so why not? I love their burrito bowls. However I’m definitely one of the regular customers that slowed down his intake after that scandal hit. Just seemed so contradictory to their message. That’s why I think they need a major shift in branding and some kind of subtle nod to fixing what was a national snafu for them.
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