Final brand audit project for Chipotle.

1. Chipotle Brand Inventory
Denisse Leon
West Virginia University
April 20, 2016

2. BRAND EXPLORATORY
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary............................................................................................................ 4
The Industry........................................................................................................................ 5
The Inventory...................................................................................................................... 7
Products & Services............................................................................................................ 7
Menu ................................................................................................................................ 7
Catering............................................................................................................................ 8
Fast-Service.................................................................................................................... 10
The Experience................................................................................................................ 10
TV Series ........................................................................................................................ 11
Brand Elements................................................................................................................. 12
Brand Name.................................................................................................................... 12
Tagline/Brand Positioning ............................................................................................... 12
Logo............................................................................................................................... 13
Packaging....................................................................................................................... 14
Restaurant Architecture Design........................................................................................ 16
Competitive Environment................................................................................................. 16
Panera Bread.................................................................................................................. 18
Shake Shack .................................................................................................................... 19
Market Share..................................................................................................................... 21
Points of Parity ............................................................................................................... 21
Points of Difference......................................................................................................... 21
Marketing Mix .................................................................................................................. 22
Product Strategy.............................................................................................................. 22
Menu...........................................................................................................................22
Promotion Strategy.......................................................................................................... 22
Animated Short Film/TV Ad.........................................................................................22
Cultivate Festival..........................................................................................................23
Free Burrito a Day, For Life ..........................................................................................24
Social Media Campaign: Haiku Contest .........................................................................25

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TV Series.....................................................................................................................25
Pricing Strategy .............................................................................................................. 26
Price............................................................................................................................26
Growth and Revenue ....................................................................................................28
Operating Costs............................................................................................................29
Distribution..................................................................................................................... 30
Locations .....................................................................................................................30
Mobile App..................................................................................................................31
Brand Hierarchy................................................................................................................ 31
Brand Exploratory............................................................................................................. 32
Attitudes and Perceptions.................................................................................................. 33
Research Methodology ..................................................................................................... 33
Consumer Research........................................................................................................... 33
Survey Results Key Findings............................................................................................. 34
Target Audience & Brand Personas.................................................................................. 37
Generation Y................................................................................................................... 37
Generation X................................................................................................................... 37
Recommendations............................................................................................................. 38
Recommendation #1......................................................................................................... 38
Recommendation #2......................................................................................................... 40
Recommendation #3......................................................................................................... 42
Recommendation #4......................................................................................................... 43
References......................................................................................................................... 45

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Executive Summary
Over the last couple of years, fast-casual restaurants have become a popular alternative to
those that prefer freshly prepared food with the convenience of counter service and the ability to
customize their meals, “all in an upscale and inviting ambiance.” Unlike most Quick Service
Restaurants (QSR), also known as fast-food restaurants, fast-casual restaurants’ price ranges
from $8 to $15, and often do not offer the ability for a drive-thru (Trefis Team Contributor,
2014).
Chipotle’s particular business model focuses on providing “Food with Integrity” and has
positioned itself as a challenger brand in the fast-casual industry. However, the recent E-coli
outbreaks have produced some negative PR news for the chain that has negatively impacted the
image of the brand.
This brand audit provides a comprehensive examination analysis and strategic evaluation
of the brand to assess the current health of the brand, while uncovering any additional sources of
brand equity to further leverage them in favor of the brand (Keller, 2013, pp 265).
A series of recommendations supported by primary and secondary research information
have been included to impact the overall creative, business and strategic plans of the
organization to position the company as the top in its industry.

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The Industry
The $22 billion burrito empire humble beginnings trace back to 1993 when Steve Ells
opened the first store in Denver, Colorado (Stock & Wong, 2015).
Chipotle was founded under the idea that “food served fast did not have to be a typical
fast food experience” (Arnold, 2015). Instead of following common fast-food standards such as
finding a good location, offering low prices, making products out of frozen food to reduce cost,
etc., Chipotle did the complete opposite and began providing a higher value in its products by
offering quality food, clean dining environment and efficient service.
Part of the success of Chipotle is certainly not in the burritos they sell, but as Steve Ells
said in an interview with Fortune: “it works because of our system: fresh, local, sustainable
ingredients, cooked with classic methods in an open kitchen where the customer can see
everything, and served in a pleasing environment” (Kaplan, 2011). The company’s website states
that Chipotle is in “the business of good food” the perfect mix between fine dining and quick-
service restaurants (Our Company, n.d.).

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Currently, Chipotle has more than “2010 fast-casual restaurants, up from 1,783 the
previous year” (Truss, 2016). Chipotle’s location cover the majority of the United States for
exception of nine states.
The company “also operates 11 ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen restaurants and two
Pizzeria Locale restaurants. It operates these two new concepts under the same fast-casual format
as Chipotle Mexican Grill (Jones, 2015).
In 2015, Chipotle’s total sales were “$1.2 billion, compared with $1.05 billion a year ago
in 2014. This was a 14.1% growth in sales” (Jones, 2015).
In addition, while most fast-food restaurants have a “reputation for low wages,” fast-
casual restaurants like Chipotle pays its employees well even though the work can be demanding
(Lutz, 2015). According to Dee Gill, “any investor who reaped the 738% gain in Chipotle

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Mexican Grill, holds proof that higher worker wages can be good for shareholders too. The
company says 98% of its managers, some of whom earn six-digits, start as crew.” (Gills, 2013).
The Inventory
The fast-casual restaurant Chipotle, created in 1993 by Steve Ells, has continued its rapid
growth despite of not following common restaurant tactics. The new trend in fast-casual
restaurants has become very popular in recent years, especially among millennials. However, as
more restaurants within this industry arise, differentiating from its competitors is becoming even
more important in order to keep the brand relevant for consumers.
The purpose of this brand inventory is to provide an analysis and insights on how the
overall brand is managed by the company, while providing a competitive landscape among its
competitors.
Products & Services
Menu
Chipotle is committed to offer healthy fresh food made with wholesome ingredients and
using classic cooking techniques. “The values behind our Food With Integrity philosophy
influence virtually every decision made at Chipotle,” said Steve Ells to the Huffington Post (Ells,
2014).
The fast-casual restaurant serves Mexican inspired food such as burritos and tacos made
with high quality natural, organic and non-GMOs ingredients in its food (Chipotle. (n.d.).
Chipotle’s menu offers four main entries: tacos, burritos, bowls and salads, from which
the customer can customize all the elements in their order resulting in more than “65,000
combinations” (Hickey, 2013).

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Chipotle’s menu is overall simple and focused, despite the recommendations of
McDonald’s, which was Chipotle’s largest investor in its early growth days. Chipotle refused to
sell “low-risk high-profit menu items such as cookies and coffee” (Yohn, 2014). Despite its
limited menu, Chipotle is a place where choices are limited only by the consumer’s imagination.
The restaurant’s menu has remained the same since the first restaurant opened in 1993,
with the exception of a few items that were added to the menu to offer a vegetarian option such
as sofritas which was introduced in 2014 (Hatic, 2016).
Catering
In addition to the in-store services, Chipotle also offers three catering options “options
that are perfect for any business meeting, event or party—serving as few as 6 or as many as 200”
(Chipotle Catering, n.d.). Just like the restaurant menu, the options are very simple and clear

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Fast-Service
Chipotle’s “throughput” offers a super fast-service, and they do so by 1) having
everything ready before rush hour, 2) placing staffers in strategic areas to serve guests at all
times, 3) expedite the process by placing a worker in between the final burrito wrapper and the
cashier, and last but not least 4) having a “line backer” making sure everything runs smoothly
(Bhasin, 2012).
The Experience
The restaurant has managed to make out of a meal an entire experience for its customers.
Ross Beard describes it as follow:
“Unlike traditional fast food restaurants that seem to be designed
specifically to get you in and out quickly, Chipotle has a soothing, relaxing
vibe – much like Starbucks. In fact, industry analyst David Tarantino says

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Chipotle is changing fast food the same way Starbucks changed coffee shops
and Home Depot changed home improvement” (Beard, 2014).
Chipotle is not just a restaurant where you can order food and leave, but rather has
become a place where people can share a meal together in “relaxed atmosphere and comfortable
seating” without paying the cost of a casual dining experience (Beard, 2014).
TV Series
In 2014, Chipotle introduced a TV series entitled “Farmed and Dangerous” available on
HULU. The show offers a satirical story where “The lead character, Buck Marshall, played by
Ray Wise, is head of the Industrial Food Image Bureau. Wise's character represents big-business
interests that attempt to put a positive spin on genetically engineered foods” (Young, 2014). And
while the show is produced by Chipotle, the content does not mix the story in trying to push
burritos.

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Brand Elements
Brand Name
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc., is a fast-casual restaurant inspired by the little taquerias in
La Mission Market in San Francisco. Steve Ells, founder of Chipotle, was fascinated by the giant
sized foiled-wrapped burritos, and took the idea he had seen at the Market and added his own
twist (Chipotle, 2011). Its name derives “from the Mexican Spanish name for a smoked, dried
jalapeño chili pepper” (Daszkowski, 2014).
Tagline/BrandPositioning
The fast-casual chain known for its philosophy “Food with Integrity” represents the
commitment that Chipotle has made to positively contribute to the environment by using local
small farms that share the same values. The company “makes an extra effort to partner with
farmers, ranchers, and other suppliers whose practices emphasize quality and responsibility”
(Chipotle, n.d.). The chain serves naturally raised chicken and beef free of antibiotics or
hormones, the animals must be fed a pure vegetarian diet. In addition, the cheese and sour cream
come also from cows that are not treated with the synthetic hormone rBGH like other restaurants.
(Martin, 2015). This helps to ensure that the food has the highest standards of value and quality
for its customers.
According to Casey Schoelen, “When a brand builds itself on a platform with specific
values, consumers expect the brand to mirror those values” and Chipotle certainly does that
(Schoelen, n.d.).

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Logo
Chipotle has stood out in the fast-casual market as a
comfortable and eccentric setting to enjoy fresh tacos and burritos.
Its original logo also stood out from the norm by using a Papyrus-
like font because according to Diana S. Khoury “Papyrus is way
OVERUSED. It is no longer novel or interesting. It is now so predictable it’s boring” (Khoury,
2015). But for the first decade of Chipotle’s history, this was certainly not the case. The
restaurant ongoing growth proof the design community wrong. In 2009, the company went
through an almost seamless re-design, moving away from its first design into a more icon based
and dual tone style (ChipotleTweets, 2016).

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Packaging
Chipotle sustainable endeavors has leveraged its packaging to align with its “Food with
Integrity” philosophy and contribute positively to the environment. The company uses “eco-
friendly, compostable fiber burrito bowl containers” that are biodegradable (Fiber Burrito Bowls,
n.d.). According to Wendy Gabriel, “Chipotle saves more than 22 million gallons of water per
year by using 100% recycled content in its napkins” (Gabriel, 2013).
In addition, Chipotle “has built a brand around the idea that “food served fast doesn’t
have to be a fast-food experience. Accordingly, they’ve designed multiple small reminders (i.e.
brand applications) that reinforce that story” (Busche, n.d.).

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In May of 2014, Chipotle introduced “Cultivating Thought Author Series” in which the
restaurant includes stories on Chipotle’s cups and take-out bags. The company uses its containers
to tell its story and offer “patrons a chance to feel engaged while eating Chipotle’s Mexican
food” (Serros, M. (2014).

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RestaurantArchitecture Design
The restaurant architecture design “decor was spare and industrial: halogen lighting,
metal tabletops, wooden benches and seats, concrete floors, and arched metal ceilings”
(Advameg, Inc., n.d.). The style aims for a hip, and urban feel that fits with the company’s target
audience.
Competitive Environment
The economic conditions of the last couple of years have impacted the dining habits in
the U.S., affecting negatively the majority of Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs). According to
Forbes, “the customer traffic growth in QSRs was considerably flat during the year ending June
2014, whereas the visits to fine dining restaurants rose 3% during the same period. Fine dining
restaurants have an average customer spend of $40 and QSRs report an average check of $5”
(2014). The extreme pricing range from one side of the spectrum to another has allowed for the

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fast-casual industry to fill the void among the middle-class groups, with an “average check of $8-
$20” (Forbes, 2014).
Unlike fast-food restaurants, the fast-casual industry prides itself “on serving up meals
just as quickly as traditional fast-food chains while using healthy, fresh and sometimes local
ingredients to create wholesome meals” (Ingram, n.d.).
But in the battle for customers, Chipotle is changing the face of fast-casual restaurants by
“driving double the sales volume per location” and “moving into a more competitive
environment as more fast-casual restaurants come onto the scene” such as Shake Shack, Habit
and Panera Bread, all which have similar food policies to Chipotle’s” (Jones, 2015).
Competitive Snapshot
Competing Factors Chipotle Panera Shake Shack
Number of U.S. Stores 2,010 1,972 60
Pay & Order Via Mobile App Yes Yes No
Average sale per restaurant 2.17 million 2.47 million 2.7 million
Offers catering Yes Yes No
Franchises Opportunities No Yes No
GMO Free Products Yes Yes Only its buns

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Panera Bread
The sandwich shop that calls itself an “advocate for clean food” and founded in 1981 is
one of the largest competitors in the fast-casual industry. With over 1,972 locations in 46 states,
the company generated $4.5 billion in sales in 2014. Like Chipotle, Panera offers a “welcoming
environment” with its newest redesigned stores with a lounge-like atmosphere, free Wi-Fi, and
of course, fresh food” (Duprey, 2015).
However, in the last couple of years, Panera has gone through a reinvention period by
introducing “Panera 2.0,” as the company calls the makeover. Ashely Lutz from Business Insider
outlines the changes as follow:
1) Offering rapid pick-up – through the use of technology customers can now order food
from their mobile devices ahead of time and pick it up without waiting in line.
2) Creating a new position – “Expos” as Panera calls them are the new hired associates
that are “on the customer’s side of the counter to check orders for accuracy.”

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3) Delivering to your table – the fast-casual brand is trying to reinvent the industry ad
stepping up its service by delivering the food to the customer’s table. The company
believes that “this higher-quality experience differentiates Panera from fast food and
even much of fast casual.”
4) Building catering centers – the catering side of the business contributes to 8% of
Panera’s current income. Currently must of the catered orders are put together in
restaurants. The new model will move the assembly to the “special centers for
distributing catering orders”
The benefits the restaurant expects to start seeing is that it will allow the “managers to
spend more time interacting with customers and identifying problems” (Lutz, 2014).
ShakeShack
The restaurant began as “simple hot dog cart in New York’s Madison Square Park in
2004,” and until recently it has had an accelerated growth (Bowman, 2015). By 2015, the
company had expanded to over 60 locations worldwide.

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According to Marie Cole, “Shake Shack burgers are catering to Americans who not only
want to eat better tasting food, but also want to know what their food is made of and where it
comes from” (Cole, 2015).
Like Chipotle, Shake Shack prides itself by offering “100% all-natural Angus beef,
vegetarian fed, humanely raised and source verified. No hormones or antibiotics – EVER. We
pride ourselves on sourcing incredible ingredients from like-minded artisanal producers” (Shake
Shack, n.d.). According to Trevir Nath, “many believe the success of the burger joint is set to
mimic that of Chipotle” (Nath, 2015).
Shake Shack’s menu is very similar to Chipotle in regards to
the limited amount of options items there are available in its menus.
One big difference though is that Shake Shack does offer Beer and
Wine at all location. In addition, Shake Shack offers food for dogs.
The furry-four-legged guest can enjoy a “ShackBurger Dog Biscuits
or a Bag O’ Bones. (Shake Shack Menu, n.d.).

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Market Share
The buzzword among restaurant chains lately has been fast-casual, a combination of
between fast service and sit-down convenience for a “healthy meal without any extra hassles”
(Suarez, 2015). Below is a comparative analysis of parities and difference from Chipotle’s main
competitor Panera and its second rival Shake Shack:
Pointsof Parity
Fresh food, Fast-casual dinning experience, Brand reputation.
Pointsof Difference
Chipotle Panera Shake Shack
 Operational
efficiency.
 Support and educate
consumer on the
future of farming and
food.
 Everything they use
and produce is
environmentally
friendly.
 Values long-term
partnerships.
 Most of its marketing
is word-of-mouth.
 Stands for community
and do so through
their “Cultivate
Festival”
 Serve Mexican food
 Customizable order
experience
 TV show
 Throughput
experience
 Naturally raised meat
 Use of story-telling
 Operational efficiency
using technology.
 Serve food at the table
 New restaurants
design
 Offer sandwiches and
soups
 A lot of locations.
 Support “Feeding
America” through its
foundation.
 Offer a rewards
program
 Serve sandwiches,
salads and soups
 There is Wi-Fi
available
 Does not offer
alcoholic beverages
 Menu also includes
breakfast items
 No international
locations
 Limited amount of
locations
 Offer hamburgers, hot
dogs, fries, and frozen
custard
 Semi-customizable
orders
 Fast expansion in the
last couple of years
 Raises awareness for
No Kid Hungry, but
has been doing so
only for the last 4
years or so.
 Serve Beer & Wine at
all locations
 Offer food items for
dogs.

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Marketing Mix
Product Strategy
Menu
Chipotle’s “Food with integrity” program aims to remove as many genetically modified
organism foods (GMOs) from their products. This provides Chipotle a competitive advantage
especially among fast-casual restaurants that also offer fast and fresh products, but do not put as
much emphasis on offering GMO-free products. Chipotle’s packaging is also another
distinguishing element of the brand. By using environmentally friendly products, Chipotle is able
to remain aligned with its slogan “Food with Integrity”.
Promotion Strategy
Animated Short Film/TV Ad
Chipotle has one of the most untraditional marketing strategies; unlike its competitors
with big-budget marketing campaigns, Chipotle keeps everything in house. In 2012, during the
Grammys, “Chipotle aired its first national TV ad,” an animated two-minute spot that “told the
story of a farmer whose farm had grown into a massive industrial compound. He has a crisis of
conscience and moves back to a more humane, sustainable way of operating” (Morrison, 2012).
The video was viewed 6.3 million times on YouTube just a week after it was released.
According to Elizabeth Weiss, “The Scarecrow” has been praised as an innovative piece of
marketing and beautiful work of art, and applauded for its anti-factory-farming message” (2013).
The impact of the video was reflected in Chipotle’s “2011 performance (revenue was up
23.7%, comp sales up 11.1%, and net income up 23.7%)” (Lukovitz, 2013).

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Cultivate Festival
Chipotle introduced around the same time was its annual Cultivate Festival that “attracts
over 17,000 people” every year. The free event features “live music and chefs from around the
country, as well as educational elements that let attendees see how food is raised and grown”
(Morrison, 2012). The Cultivate Festival along with the Farm Team loyalty program – “both are
focused on humane food sourcing and organic farming” – allowing the company to work more at
a grassroots level (Bhasin, 2012).
The impact of the festival, according to Mark Crumpacker, chief creative and
development officer at Chipotle, is “changing the way people think about and eat fast food, and
that includes helping people understand how food is raised and prepared” (BusinessWire, 2016).

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Free Burrito a Day, For Life
Every time a celebrity shares their love for Chipotle “they’re sent a card that entitles them
to a free burrito a day, for life. Chipotle asks for nothing in return, but many recipients have
taken to social media to announce their joy” (Tan, 2015). The fast-casual restaurant strategy “is
a sort of reverse engineering of the typical endorsement process,” the unique marketing style
“relies on the power of personal recommendation” (Stem, 2013).

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Social Media Campaign: Haiku Contest
The restaurant’s clever social media campaign encourages customers to express their love
for burritos by “asking people to post a haiku on Twitter or the brand's Facebook page for the
chance to win prizes. The top 20 poems with the most Likes and retweets will win a dinner for
two” (Johnson, 2015). The consumer-generated campaign had a lot of buzz on Facebook and
Twitter.
TV Series
In 2014, Chipotle introduced a TV series entitled “Farmed and Dangerous” available on
HULU. The show offers a satirical story where “The lead character, Buck Marshall, played by
Ray Wise, is head of the Industrial Food Image Bureau. Wise's character represents big-business
interests that attempt to put a positive spin on genetically engineered foods” (Young, 2014). And

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while the show is produced by Chipotle, the content does not mix the story in trying to push
burritos.
The TV show certainly aligns with Chipotle’s philosophy of delivering “Food with
Integrity” or in this case, shows “with Integrity”.
Pricing Strategy
Price
The fast casual restaurant that prides itself in offering fresh high-quality food. Over the
last couple of years, “the company has managed to transcend fast food while keeping some of its
cost structure in place. It has also been able to take a very limited menu and give consumers the
feeling of variety” (Kline, 2015).
In 2014, Chipotle raised its prices by 6.5 percent, and despite the increase store sales
continued to soar that year. According to Business insider, “Chipotle hadn't raised menu prices

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for three years, but the higher cost of ingredients compelled it to roll out up to a 6.5 percent
average increase in the second quarter” (Dastin, 2014).
It is important to note that prices ranges depend on the item and by locations, as noted by
the tables below from Business Insider (Lutz, 2013):
But in 2015, after the wake of an E Coli outbreak that brought down sales, the company
announced that would drop prices as much as 22% to help increase sales (Wahba, 2015).

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Growth and Revenue
With over 2,010 locations and growing, Chipotle has become one of the fastest growing
fast-casual restaurants with “rising number of restaurants worldwide between 2007 and 2015”
and ranking one of the “U.S. consumer’s joint favorite in 2015” for best healthy food (Number of
Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants 2015 | Statistic, n.d.).
In 2013, the company generated average unit sales of $2.1 million, increasing its revenue
by 17% (Shaw, 2010). In 2015, Chipotle’s total sales were “$1.2 billion, compared with $1.05
billion a year ago in 2014. This was a 14.1% growth in sales” a drastic dropped from prior years
(Jones, 2015).
However, in mid October of 2015, Chipotle suffered a major E-Coli outbreak “that
spanned 14 states and sickened 60 people” (Beach, 2016). A second outbreak of a different kind
was later identified by the FDA affecting five people (Clark, 2016).
Below is a visual map overview of the states where the stores were affected by the
outbreak.

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During the outbreak, “Chipotle closed 43 locations in Oregon and Washington out of an
abundance of caution,” but those locations have reopened (Carlson, 2015). On February 2016,
Chipotle temporarily closed for one day all of its locations “while it dedicated time to informing
its employees of several new food safety measures to prevent future outbreaks” (Barnett, 2016).
Operating Costs
According to Market Realist, in 2013, the company’s food cost represented “33.40%, or
$1.1 billion, of revenues, which increased by 78 basis points (or 0.78%) year-over-year,”
followed by its labor with “23% of the company’s total revenues, or $739 million, in 2013,” and
10% for other operating costs such as “advertising and marketing expenses, bank and credit card
charges, restaurant maintenance costs, and utilities” (Jones, 2014).

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Prior to the e-coli outbreak “The chain’s stock was trading at $754 in August 2015 and
hit a low of $404 in January” (Beach, 2016).
Distribution
Locations
The first Chipotle location had “800 square feet in size, the subsequent units covered
1,600 to 2,800 square feet” (Advameg, Inc., n.d.). Each location seat approximately 58 people
and feature outdoor patio space (Chipotle Company Profile | Reuters.com, n.d.). Currently,
Chipotle has more than 2,010 fast-casual restaurants, and more than 45,000 employees (Jones,
2015).

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Mobile App
The Chipotle App allows customers to order from their phone and skip the lines. Their
orders are saved in the system to process it faster next time the customer decides to order (Tan,
2015). In addition, customers are able to find locations
Brand Hierarchy
According to Keller, brand hierarchy helps to outline the strategy of the brand by
displaying common and distinctive elements (Keller, 2013).
In this case, the Mexican fast-casual restaurant has tried to diversify by extending into the
Asian and Pizza food market and running these two new concepts under the same format as
Chipotle. Currently, the burrito chain “operates 11 ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen
restaurants and two Pizzeria Locale restaurants” (Jones, 2015).

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Both of Chipotle’s additional lines of extension also focus on providing gourmet food in
a fast-casual setting. The target market is mainly Millennials just like the main brand, and the
concepts of assembly line and customization are also present.
Brand Exploratory
The recent E-coli outbreak that the Millennial-friendly Mexican food chain suffered in
2015 severely affected the brand’s reputation. “However, while the outbreak was not the sole
responsibility of Chipotle, they are the ones in the news” (Winters, 2015). And although Chipotle
may be making some steps from a corporate perspective to change consumer’s perceptions, the
chain has an uphill battle ahead to re-gain trust among current and prospective customers.

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Attitudes and Perceptions
Chipotle competes with a few fast-casual restaurant types. On the forefront of the leaders
in the quick service restaurant business are Panera, Shake Shack, Qdoba, Baja Fresh, Five Guys,
and Panda Express. The fast-casual Mexican restaurant position itself as the “healthy alternative
to traditional fast-food chains” (Marafiote, 2015). “The bad publicity has taken a toll on the
bottom line at the company, which has warned that its sales fell in the last quarter of 2015”
(Zarroli, 2016).
The restaurant’s limited menu serves its target audience which consist of millennials,
health-conscious consumers. “No doubt much of their success comes from their emphasis the
story they have built around the freshness and integrity of their ingredients” (Millennial
Marketing, n.d.).
Research Methodology
In order to understand consumers’ mindset, beliefs and attitudes towards the Chipotle
brand, a consumer research was conducted to measure five different areas of the brand:
awareness, association, image, response and relationship. Two main sources were used as
primary source, consisting of quantitative and qualitative research through a survey and the
secondary source was using Chipotle’s social media and industry articles.
Consumer Research
Responders were asked six questions that covered brand perception, loyalty,
demographics, and psychographic information. The survey was answered by 13 online students,
and 29 other additional respondents, a total of 42 responders.

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Survey ResultsKey Findings
 Chipotle’s Food with Integrity commitment did not influence 55% of the consumers’
decisions.
 35.71% of responders eat at Chipotle at least once a month.
 The largest age group of people that eats at Chipotle once a month are between 25-34 years
old.
 The most common words used to describe the fast-casual restaurant were: Fresh, Healthy,
Delicious, Mexican, Flavorful, Tasty, Clean and Dangerous.
Despite the last year’s E-coli outbreak, respondents associated the following words with
the fast-casual restaurant: 16.09% Delicious; 45.17% Fresh, 21.35% Tasty; 21.05% Healthy and
5.56% Dangerous. Of the 42 responders, 30.95% were between ages 25-34, and 28.7% between
35 and 44 years old.

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Below are the survey questions asked:
Q1 – Does Chipotle’s Food with Integrity
campaign influence your decision to eat
and enjoy their products? Yes, No, Other
Q2 – What three adjectives would you use
to describe the quality of Chipotle food?
Q3 – How often do you eat at Chipotle?
Never
This was my first time
2-3 times per week
1 time per week
Every other week
Once a month
Other
Q4 – What is your age group?
18-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
Q5 – Are you White, Black or African-
American, American Indian or Alaskan
Native, Asian, Native Hawaiian or other
Pacific islander, or some other race?
Q6 – Which of the following categories
best describes your employment status?
Employed, working full-time
Employed, working part-time
Not employed, looking for work
Not employed, NOT looking for
work
Disabled, not able to work
Despite the bad publicity from the E-coli outbreaks, Chipotle consumer’s perceptions are
for the most part positive. In part is because of the great listening response the company has on
social media.

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Another reason Chipotle has gotten a lot of publicity on social media is also in part
because of the steps the company has taken after the outbreak by giving away free burritos to
help ease dinners. However, despite all the discounts, appears that almost “40% of people have
changed their Chipotle habits”. “Of those respondents, however, 70% say they have not eaten at
Chipotle again since the illness broke out, an improvement from the 78% who said so in each of
the last two months” (Wiexzner, 2016).
The E-coli outbreak damaged the brand negatively for many of Chipotle’s consumers,
and its philosophy “Food with Integrity” might have worked against them creating a bigger
effect than it would have had with any other restaurant (Erbentraut, 2016). However, a report
done by Crimson Hexagon suggests that “Chipotle’s positioning strategy and its reputation for
food quality have been very successful in the past” and the actions the company took right after
the outbreak have began to generate “positive response from the public, which can put Chipotle
even farther ahead than the competition” (Semtei, n.d.).

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Target Audience & Brand Personas
By using observational research, social media, and the survey data, the following profiles
have been identified as the main archetypes of Chipotle’s customer base.
Generation Y
Millennials or Generation Y value transparency and authenticity (Lutz, 2015).
 16-34 years’ old
 Tech Savvy
 Family oriented
 Communicators
 83 million Yers population
 Earns about 30-60K
 Is college educated
Generation X
According Klara (2016), Chipotle is among the few brands that “have long viewed Gen X
as core customers.”
 35-54 years’ old
 Full time employees
 Mixed political views
 65 million Xers population
 "Think Different" is a Gen X mantra

38. BRAND EXPLORATORY
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Recommendations
Based on this research, the brand has taken a toll on the image and perceptions that
consumers have towards, especially after the recent outbreaks. However, the actions on behalf of
the company to address the E-coli issue and the concerns of the consumers have helped to
generate some positive buzz around it.
In addition, the consistency of the brand message across all of the chain’s channels have
played a big role in supporting the relationship the brand has with the consumer. And while most
people are familiar with the Chipotle brand, there seems to be opportunity in the midst of tragedy
to resurge the brand even stronger.
Recommendation #1
Increase “Food with Integrity” awareness by 10% within 12 months
Overview
Since it’s inception, Chipotle’s “Food with Integrity” model has guided most of what the
brand is today. But recently, the E-coli outbreaks have challenged the validity of the model,
creating some major distrust among consumers and investors. The strategy for this will be to
capitalize on Chipotle’s commitment to food quality and reinforce the message through the use
of compelling storytelling marketing campaign while engaging customers to take a part of the
movement.
Tactics
An online campaign will be launched entitle “Food with Integrity is ___________”.
Everyone has an opinion of what Food with Integrity is. That's why a website would be created
as a platform for people to express what Food with Integrity is to them.

39. BRAND EXPLORATORY
39
The website will feature a section for customers to create their own response, and the
responses will be featured through a rotation system that changes the images every 5 seconds to
allow for all the submissions to be highlighted, and the opportunity for people to vote on those
that they personally agree or disagree with.
Some posts will be selected and create some community projects around them and
featured in the site.

40. BRAND EXPLORATORY
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Outcome
Allowing people to share their personal opinions will generate media attention, while
providing the customer the opportunity to directly connect with Chipotle’s philosophy. While
there will be some negative posts, the goal is to utilize them as a means to show transparency,
and get immediate feedback to hear directly from consumers what they think about the brand.
Stories and community projects resulted from this experiment will provide content for social
media and traditional media.
Recommendation #2
Address food transparency
Overview
While farmers’ markets have become very popular over the last decade or so, consumers
that live in big cities don’t always fully understand everything that goes into the good practices
of farming. Teaching consumers more about farming practices, while recognizing farms that
value sustainability can be a good way to begin addressing transparency. This campaign will
focus on how Chipotle manages “Food Transparency” by taking the users behind the scenes with
the suppliers and learn more about the process behind the production and distribution of the
produces.
Tactics
Develop a mobile app that will allow customers to track a Just-Bought-A-Burrito back to
the farmer’s geo-tagged field. Every time a consumer purchases a burrito, the wrapping will have
a QR code that can be scanned through a mobile app. The link will geo-tag the farm from which
the produce came from, and allow the user to learn more about its practices.

41. BRAND EXPLORATORY
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Within the app, consumers will be able to read more about the farm, and understand why
it aligns with Chipotle’s “Food with Integrity” practices. The app will also feature Chipotle’s
Author series, along with a section to participate in the “Food with Integrity is ________”
campaign via mobile. The mobile responses will be tracked to see the impact that the farm
awareness have in consumers. The app will be promoted online, and social media.
Outcome
By showing the transparency of where the products come from, it will position the brand
as one to take a bold step and made a statement that “Food with Integrity” is not just a slogan but
a way of living. In addition, this will position Chipotle as a trailblazer to open communications
practices between the farmers and the consumers.

42. BRAND EXPLORATORY
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Recommendation #3
Partner with a Music Record label to produce an original song for a new short film
Overview
The original Scarecrow campaign mission was to “change the way people think about
and eat fast food” (The Scarecrow, n.d.). Similar to the 2011 and 2013 sustainable farming series
themes, the new animated short film will address transparency and accountability, while
capitalizing on the legacy and impact of the prior films driving home its commitment to
sustainability. The film will be complemented with a brand new song written specifically for this
campaign.
Tactics
Storytelling has been a big part of the Chipotle brand, by partnering with a record music
company, the goal is to work with an up and coming band that fits the Chipotle values and
personality to write a song for the up and coming short film. The new song will be released on
the radio a month before the short film. According to Alex Pham, “65 Million Millennials Listen
to Radio Each Week” (2014). The new song will speak mainly to the Millennials, the prime

43. BRAND EXPLORATORY
43
market of the chain. In addition, the short film will re-introduce the scarecrow in a simple and
emotional story just like the prior films.
Outcome
By the end of the campaign, Millennials should be able to relate the song with the new
short film, and whether they have seen the short film or not, the video and the song would create
awareness on sustainability practices.
Recommendation #4
Increase customer lifetime value through a loyalty program
Overview
Loyalty programs have the potential to develop brand advocates because of the repeated
purchases the customer has to make to get a reward or incentive. Introducing a loyalty program
can help to retain existing customers, acquire new customers, win-back defected and churned

44. BRAND EXPLORATORY
44
customers, build relationships, create brand advocates and be able to respond to competitive
challenges (Clark, 2010).
Tactics
A new burrito loyalty program will be added to the mobile app. Similar to the Starbucks
rewards program, customers will be required to set up an online account, which will provide the
chain with customer information and permission to send quarterly newsletters with information
on sustainability and other food practices. Customers that are a part of the loyalty program will
receive a free burrito for every tenth one.
Outcome
The loyalty program should increase not only sales, but also in-store visits. The database
will also allow the brand to connect with the customers directly and begin to impact the
perception of the brand through its quarterly newsletter, offers, and overall improve customer
trust and satisfaction.

45. BRAND EXPLORATORY
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