Chipotle's Marketing Strategies

Chipotle has a very simple product line-up offering tacos, burritos and salads. However, it offers up to 65000 combinations of ingredients for customers to choose while assembling the product. The product ingredients, sourcing and preparation are important for Chipotle w.r.t. customer experience and perceptions about the brand. There is however, no difference in product line-up when compared to direct competitors like Qdoba.

The company had run a national TV commercial which named “Back to the Start” during the Grammy Awards. Chipotle also had published their food, restaurant concept and business through favorable articles and television programs. Moreover, Chipotle used video and music programs as well as event strategy to attract the consumers’ attention to their restaurants. The company also initiated promotional activities via newly opened restaurants to attract more consumers. Chipotle introduced a reward program, the “Farm Team” to encourage more customers to join a program that educated them something related to Chipotle Mexican Grill business concept. In addition, the word-of-mouth publicity from customers enable Chipotle to reduce the cost of advertising but at the same time increasing the brand reputation of the restaurants in the

This paper will explain how consumer behavior would affect Chipotle’s marketing strategies if the company wants to enter to Spanish market. It will analyze possible consumer behavior issues and Spanish market background, suggesting along the potential marketing implications. Nevertheless, predictions and suggestions made in this paper may need further market researches to be verified.

Chick-fil-A has been growing at the enviable rate of roughly 13 percent annually. The senior vice president and chief marketing officer, Steve Robinson, said “the company have strong focus on operations to ensure they have what they need to grow same-store sales”.

Opportunity options for Chipotle lie in international expansions in Europe as well as in the growth of the US food service industry. From 2014 to 2015 consumer spending on food away from home increased by 50 percent and is supposed to increase further, which would improve sales. One major opportunity would be drive thru locations, as well as a menu expansion.

After carefully analyzing the different alternatives, the best course of action is to continue to compete effectively on differentiation based on quality and sustainability given the mounting competitive and sourcing challenges. Even thought Taco Bell’s new menu seems like a significant threat they are far from creating the same value and reputation Chipotle has created since it opened its first restaurant in 1993. Not only does Chipotle provide the freshest and best ingredients with a bold flavor, they are setting themselves apart from any other restaurant chain and main competitor since they

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG), the market leader in the Mexican-style fast casual dining sector, faces direct competition from four other companies. These include Qdoba Restaurant Corporation; Fresh Enterprises, LLC; Mswg, LLC; and Rubio 's Coastal Grill. Chipotle also competes on a less head-to-head basis against

Strength 1: Largest Restaurant Chain in Market Segment, with highest share Chipotle has the largest share of the fast casual marketing segment in the Unites States. Chipotle has over 1,400 locations and plans to open an additional 140 locations this year. By holding the largest share of the market, Chipotle is able to trial, expand, and experiment with new ideas in certain geographic locations. Chipotle is able to trial new menu items and not have it affect the bottom line, and in addition, they are able to gather an incredible amount of information regarding customer data. This data will allow Chipotle to understand the different demographics of its customers in the trial locations. With its 1,400 locations in many locations provides Chipotle with the strength to trial new ideas.

If the employee forgets to add beans, the consumer is watching and can point out the omission. It’s easy and fast and consumers love it. Finally, a small menu also means that customers know exactly what’s for sale each time they visit the restaurant. Chipotle doesn’t need to develop new products or create flashy advertisements to let consumers know its offerings, and consumers aren’t disappointed by the disappearance of a product after a trial or promotion period”(Page, n.d).

Chipotle Mexican Grill was founded by CEO Steve Ells in July 1993 after receiving his degree in culinary. He worked in in a high end restaurant for two years he inspired to create his restaurant from small Mexican restaurants in San Francisco mission district. Steve’s idea is to put his mark on the concept by stuffing tortilla with gourmet ingredients. He used small business loan and financial funds from his father and Steve Ells opened his first restaurant named by Chipotle Mexican Grill in Detroit, Michigan. Steve created an open kitchen to make the customers interact directly with the employees and have control on the food they are ordering. Chipotle Mexican Grill is on of the fast Mexican restaurant chains, with 400 outlets in 20 states.

I choose to explore Chipotle for this assignment because this brand has become a staple in the fast food industry in what I perceive a very short amount of time. I am currently a loyal customer of Chipotle, I have been eating at this restaurant for about 7 years now. I perceive this brand to represent quality fast food, consistently.

Secondary components of its Value chain are assembly line process and the uses of billboard, and radio ads to market. The operating strategy of Chipotle is based on the principle that “the front line is key.” The open kitchen design allowed customers to be a part of line process, which improve customer interaction with its employees. To improve its brand recognition and increase customer awareness, Chipotle utilizes mix marketing approaches to employ

In 1993 he opened Chipotle, the restaurant expanded from a 1 unit operation in Denver into 1,458 unit operation serving more than 900,000 customers a day in 43 states. The company philosophy: “Food with Integrity”. The philosophy shows how Steve Ells took pride in ensuring Chipotle was offering food with healthy ingredients. His Corporate Strategy was to change how people think of fast food by differentiating Chipotle from

For Chipotle Company, transparency is particularly important in leadership. Therefore, these products have gained the confidence and trust among customers is high. He believes that sales will not be affected. This will enable the company to provide dividends that were promised to customers. Some companies that do not practice transparency in business will affect the community. The products produced by the company will have adverse effects as a result producer does not emphasize the impact on the public. Manufacturers do not provide information to consumers with accurate information about their products. They should list the manufacturer clearly all the ingredients to produce the goods. For

The company itself is considered as a breakthrough innovation in the American fast food market. Initially CMG was set to challenge fast food traditional trend and in the end it launched a new industry, and became the top player among the fast food chains (LINK1). Chipotle invented a way to sustain the speed, experience and convenience of standard fast food restaurant but provide a far better quality of the food. Unlike the common perception of fast food industry with reduced “penny-pinching” prices and expanded menus, CMG went opposite direction by providing higher quality foods through the different value equation. Even though the meals are more expensive in comparison with majority of fast food competitor’s offerings, Chipotle still manages