On October 2, 2018, USA Today published an article stating that Chipotle will be beta testing a loyalty rewards program in Pheonix, Kansas City, and Colombus before the program is officially released nation-wide in 2019. As someone that spends an unnecessary amount of money at Chipotle, I am extremely excited about this.
My first thought after recently writing a comm theory paper on the priming theory was that the public is currently perfectly primed for this launch. Over the last few years, consumer loyalty programs have been increasingly popular for restaurants, and this is something that avid Chipotle consumers have been waiting for.
Throughout the past few years, Chipotle has been receiving mixed coverage in the media. Much of their negative coverage revolves around the various health issues Chipotle has been experiencing in different restaurants across the country. As a PR representative for Chipotle, I would heavily push for coverage on this new program launch in order to create further brand loyalty and excitement among consumers.
Because this program is debuting in 3 cities prior to 2019, I think it would be very beneficial for the first users of this program to publically support this program and discuss all the ways that they gained from its use. They can achieve this by writing blog posts or simply posting about it on social media.
I also believe now would be a good time for Chipotle to partner with social media influencers. A successful example of this would be Taco Bell and their partnerships with several extremely popular YouTubers. One particular YouTuber, David Dobrik, who has 9.1 million subscribers and an average of 4 million views on all of his weekly vlogs, mentions Chipotle in his videos very frequently even though they aren’t officially partnered. I think if Chipotle reached out to David and paid him to explain Chipotle’s app and how the new loyalty program would work/ what benefits are offered, this would reach an extremely wide audience of teenagers who would then join this new program.
I agree that Chipotle should definitely be trying to get as much coverage around this positive initiative as possible. Pretty much up until this announcement, you only ever hear of Chipotle in the news when there is another outbreak of E. coli in one of their restaurants (even thought that doesn’t stop me from eating there). Having a good program in the news that really benefits their consumers is definitely a very good thing for the company.
I agree that Chipotle should capitalize off of social media influencers. I think bringing up another successful of a fast food restaurant doing so, such as Taco Bell, really strengthened your argument. Using youtubers also is a great idea. The arena of bloggers is growing a lot and they are known for having a large influence on their audience. Great job with this!
I love Chipotle, and i love rewards! I agree that it’s a smart idea for chipotle to reach out to specific social influencers who are mentioning them anyway (for free!) I don’t know if a Chipotle blog per say would be the best technique, but I agree that social media in general should be one of their strongest PR reach outs.
I think that this is a great step business wise for Chipotle as it is a widely loved brand. I think a rewards program will offer great PR for the brand as well as increase sales and customer loyalty. Overall, I am excited about this as a Chipotle consumer.
This is good news! I also agree that this is prime time for Chipotle launch a campaign and implement their rewards program. Chipotle is still a very popular chain, and releasing a rewards program will bring it even more publicity. Over the past few years there have been some issues with cleanliness issues, so having a rewards program might bring a bigger customer base to make up for the customers they lost due to health related issues.
Who doesn’t love a great loyalty rewards program?! This is a big step for Chipotle especially since other Mexican chain restaurants like Moe’s does something like this already. I think pushing for this program is a great idea and coming out with a press release would be beneficial, as well. Also, your idea for getting influencers to help promo is great. It would be absolutely amazing if they could get the “Chipotle is life” kid to help promote the new rewards program.