Chipotle Mexican Grill’s Campaign Objectives, 2011:
Marketing Objectives
1. To increase sales of the Chipotle Salad 100% by the end of the year
It is an opportunity for Chipotle that people are having an attitude change to being more health-conscious. Chipotle offers this salad, which is a more health-conscious option than the burrito. Most people don’t think to have a salad at Chipotle (they think of burritos), but we could increase sales of this product through creating awareness of this product.
2. To increase share of market by 5% by the end of the year.
A threat to Chipotle is its limited amount of locations, which is about 950 in the United States and Canada. Qdoba has only 500 restaurants, Baja Fresh has about 250, and Moe’s Southwest Grill has about 400. If you consider Taco Bell a competitor, then these restaurants only have a small share of market, although Chipotle is first amongst them. Taco Bell had over 5,600 locations. That means that if you consider each of these restaurants, Chipotle has a 12.3% market share so it is realistic but challenging that they could increase their market share by 5%.
Creative Objective
5. To establish Chipotle’s CEO as a spokesperson to increase connection between the CEO and the company by 50% by the end of the year.
Steve Ells is the CEO and founder of Chipotle. He was inspired to open up his own quick service restaurant and use his own personality and lifestyle to create Chipotle. Chipotle’s distinct layout and design was inspired by Steve as well as the food. He uses simple and naturally-grown ingredients because that is what he eats on a daily basis. Steve Ells has unique plan: to create a healthy way of eating fast food and, in turn, change the way America eats fast food. Making Steve Ells the spokesperson is a great way to increase the connection between Steve Ells’ own beliefs on food and the way that his company represents those beliefs.
Media Objective
6. To reach 80% of the target market through media by the end of the year.
Chipotle has never placed a large emphasis on advertising (which is a weakness). They believe that a company is not built on advertising alone, but through hiring a new Chief Marketing Officer, they are showing that they want to do more in this area. In the past, they relied heavily on word of mouth with very limited advertising in the various forms of media including spot TV, print, outdoor, and radio, which we will increase in order to reach this objective.
Sales Promotion Objective
7. To increase participation by 100% in Chipotle’s $2 Halloween Promotion on October 31st.
Every year Chipotle holds a Halloween Costume Event. Customers that come in dressed up as “Scary Processed Foods” can receive a burrito or salad for $2. This event increases awareness of Chipotle’s natural and healthy ingredients (which is a strength of Chipotle) by emphasizing the fact that other restaurants consistently use processed foods. The event is a fun way to show the companies integrity. To increase customers participation, we need to advertise the event better through the media and social networking websites.
Public Relations Objective
8. To increase Chipotle’s positive feedback via Twitter by 100% by the end of the year.
Marketing Objectives
1. To increase sales of the Chipotle Salad 100% by the end of the year
It is an opportunity for Chipotle that people are having an attitude change to being more health-conscious. Chipotle offers this salad, which is a more health-conscious option than the burrito. Most people don’t think to have a salad at Chipotle (they think of burritos), but we could increase sales of this product through creating awareness of this product.
2. To increase share of market by 5% by the end of the year.
A threat to Chipotle is its limited amount of locations, which is about 950 in the United States and Canada. Qdoba has only 500 restaurants, Baja Fresh has about 250, and Moe’s Southwest Grill has about 400. If you consider Taco Bell a competitor, then these restaurants only have a small share of market, although Chipotle is first amongst them. Taco Bell had over 5,600 locations. That means that if you consider each of these restaurants, Chipotle has a 12.3% market share so it is realistic but challenging that they could increase their market share by 5%.
Advertising Objectives
3. To increase Chipotle’s share of voice by 25% within the fast food category by the end of the year.
Chipotle has not advertised much in the media. With its first big advertising campaign, its goal is to increase its share of voice and start having a presence in the media. Doing so, the fast food chain will deal with one of its weaknesses (limited advertising), and fight against its competitors and substitutes by increasing its awareness and recognition.
4. To increase top-of-mind awareness in 50% of the target market when asked for qualitative/healthy fast food chains by the end of the year.
Chipotle is a quick service restaurant characterized by the quality of its food (which is one of its strengthes. With the upcoming advertising campaign and current attitudinal changes towards health-consciousness (which is an opportunity for Chipotle), Chipotle’s goal is to be named by its target market when asked to name healthy fast food restaurants. Thus, the upcoming campaign will help Chipotle to position itself in consumers’ mind.
Creative Objective
5. To establish Chipotle’s CEO as a spokesperson to increase connection between the CEO and the company by 50% by the end of the year.
Steve Ells is the CEO and founder of Chipotle. He was inspired to open up his own quick service restaurant and use his own personality and lifestyle to create Chipotle. Chipotle’s distinct layout and design was inspired by Steve as well as the food. He uses simple and naturally-grown ingredients because that is what he eats on a daily basis. Steve Ells has unique plan: to create a healthy way of eating fast food and, in turn, change the way America eats fast food. Making Steve Ells the spokesperson is a great way to increase the connection between Steve Ells’ own beliefs on food and the way that his company represents those beliefs.
Media Objective
6. To reach 80% of the target market through media by the end of the year.
Chipotle has never placed a large emphasis on advertising (which is a weakness). They believe that a company is not built on advertising alone, but through hiring a new Chief Marketing Officer, they are showing that they want to do more in this area. In the past, they relied heavily on word of mouth with very limited advertising in the various forms of media including spot TV, print, outdoor, and radio, which we will increase in order to reach this objective.
Sales Promotion Objective
7. To increase participation by 100% in Chipotle’s $2 Halloween Promotion on October 31st.
Every year Chipotle holds a Halloween Costume Event. Customers that come in dressed up as “Scary Processed Foods” can receive a burrito or salad for $2. This event increases awareness of Chipotle’s natural and healthy ingredients (which is a strength of Chipotle) by emphasizing the fact that other restaurants consistently use processed foods. The event is a fun way to show the companies integrity. To increase customers participation, we need to advertise the event better through the media and social networking websites.
Public Relations Objective
8. To increase Chipotle’s positive feedback via Twitter by 100% by the end of the year.
Twitter is fast becoming a highly-beneficial customer service tool and public relations tool for companies big and small. It is no secret that some companies use it much more effectively than others. Chipotle Mexican Grill is an example of a business that is doing a lot of things phenomenally well, but could also improve upon their current tactics to reach social media perfection. Chipotle’s Twitter experience has been beneficial, but has weaknesses that need to be improved. When people tweet their experiences and/or comments, Chipotle representatives take a while to respond and do so with very little concern, if they respond at all. Chipotle needs to use their negative comments as positive feedback to make it constructive to their company, as well as respond to these tweeters so that they will turn their negative tweets into positive ones.
