should chipotle advertise?

02/19/2007 10:41:00 PM
In an interview in Business Week, Steve Ells, the founder of Chiptole, the fast-food brand that's packed with integrity, discusses why he thinks advertising would be wrong for the brand.

"Advertising isn't believable. We want to prove to people that we have great quality food. We do this by having this transparent format, this open kitchen where you actually see real food, rather than telling customers our food is fresh. And fresh isn't even enough; it's just the starting point.

Only 5% of our customers probably know about food with integrity. The rest come in because Chipotle tastes great, or they like spicy food, or they think it's a great value, or it's convenient, or the place looks cool. That's awesome; I love that.

I would like to have advertisements telling people about food with integrity on television, and plastered on billboards and in all the big magazines and national newspapers. But I don't think people want to hear it that way. That might be too preachy."

Perhaps Steve is half-right, Chipotle doesn't need a mass media blast, but there's no harm in great ideas designed to reach the right people in the right places.

There are thousands of brands that have done and continue to do this and most of them end up enhancing their brand reputations.
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