Marketing lessons for Chipotle

Chipotle has been in the news lately for a very controversial new ad, a video, about a scarecrow who works at an industrial food-processing factory.

Chipotle has been in the news a lot lately as it furthers it's marketing campaign to be, supposedly, the one and only "real" food option for fast food. A very controversial new ad, a video, about a scarecrow who works at an industrial food-processing factory has come under a lot of attack. The scarecrow has had a change of heart and decides to start his own business with fresh foods grown in his tiny farm. But the reality is that there’s a lot of misinformation in this video. And the question is, ‘Who’s going to correct it?’ Chipotle is a great marketer. Their motto is “Food with Integrity” and earlier this year committed to sourcing as much local, non-genetically modified ingredients as it can. And now, the Mexican food giant is expanding it's reach even more. Speculation is that they are adding breakfast to their menu! Chipotle is testing coffee at their DC locations, Chipotle also sells breakfast burritos at one of these locations, so…naturally speculators insist that Chipotle might be closer than ever to offering breakfast?? According to a Janney research note republished by The Wall Street Journal, "This could be the beginnings of a potential wider breakfast rollout for Chipotle, which at present–to the best of our knowledge–only opens for breakfast in two airport locations and only serves breakfast items at one," If this were true, it wouldn't be a bad idea on their part. Competitor Taco Bell recently headed down the breakfast track with popular items like Waffle Taco. But a spokesperson told the Huffington post that there were "no broader plans for these things (coffee or breakfast),." But breakfast or no breakfast, we can all learn a little something from Chipotle. Being a smart marketer is everything. They have a focused message of real food, real ingredients, and they have also continued to zero in on the meat free crowd, changing their pinto bean recipe to make it completely vegetarian and of course earlier this year they added a new tofu filling "sofritas" to it's menu. With a solid message and a simple system Chipotle has elevated itself to 1,300 locations across the country and is making forays into Europe, too, and it's founder Steve Ells was named "America's Most Inspiring CEO " by Esquire. So go on, grab a burrito and a margarita.