DENVER Chipotle Mexican Grill said it intends to reward its most creative and enthusiastic fans with a $10,000 grand prize in its ongoing “My Chipotle” user-generated advertising campaign.
Fans that register on the fast-casual chain’s www.mychipotle.com website and submit original content, which revolves mostly around how they like to order their burritos, also may have their favorite personalized menu item appear for a limited time on the menu at Chipotle’s more than 860 units nationwide.
“When we launched the My Chipotle campaign, our intention was to harness the power of our most loyal fans and to empower them as messengers for Chipotle,” said chief marketing officer Mark Crumpacker. “While we have received hundreds of submissions and registered thousands of users at the My Chipotle website, we wanted our customers to know how much we appreciate their contributions to the campaign by giving them an opportunity to be rewarded for their best submissions.”
Entries must be submitted by Aug. 14 to be eligible, and Chipotle will announce the contest’s winners Aug. 26. Second prize will be $5,000 and a party for 50 people thrown at a local Chipotle restaurant. Third prize will be a year’s supply of burritos, and other prizes may be awarded, the company said.
Chipotle is the latest of many restaurant brands either to encourage customers to produce original content or just to leverage real people and their stories for marketing and branding purposes. For instance, Hardee’s launched a user-generated advertising contest in February to promote its Little Thickburger menu item, which had been introduced last September. About 30,000 Hardee’s fans reportedly tried their hand at copywriting and advertising by using the “Ad Generator” on the 1,915-unit quick-service chain’s website.
Another quick-service burger brand, Krystal, has gathered the testimonies of its most loyal customers to compile the Krystal Lovers Hall of Fame, which inducted its first class in 2005 on the 387-unit chain’s website. Meanwhile, Freebirds World Burrito, a 25-unit brand in the Tavistock Restaurants portfolio, has long produced TV commercials in which real customers’ stories are set to the actions of characters made from crumpled tin foil, and Subway’s latest TV campaign consists of real people singing the near-ubiquitous jingle for its $5 Footlong sandwiches.
Denver-based Chipotle created My Chipotle with its agency of record, Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, which took over Chipotle’s account this past January. The campaign emphasizes that Chipotle’s menu allows for 60,000 possible combinations of meat, salsa and other toppings for customers to arrive at their favorite burritos. Company spokesman Chris Arnold said in an e-mail that all entries submitted through the campaign’s website will be considered for the contest, not just those received since the announcement of the $10,000 grand prize.
Arnold also noted that, while the winning item may be included on Chipotle’s menu as a limited-time offer, the chain has no plans at this time to start offering other packaged burritos or set combinations of flavors and toppings, preferring instead to let guests customize their orders.
The ad campaign will encompass print and online, as well as outdoor marketing on billboards, bus stops and taxi cabs.
Contact Mark Brandau at [email protected].