The Evolution of Chipotle Currency:
THE FIRST BURRITO BUCK — 1999
One of the very first projects I was involved with upon starting at Chipotle. We had come to understand that the best form of marketing this nascent restaurant was to simply get people to try it. Creating this currency allowed us to go outside of the four walls of the restaurants in order to drive trial. The math was simple then; we knew that if we could just get a person to eat Chipotle three times, they'd be hooked.
THE BIG CHIEF PLAYING CARDS — 2001
Based on the in-restaurant sculptures by Bruce Gueswel, these were some of the most coveted pieces of currency we ever created, a full deck of 54 cards (2 jokers) printed by Bicycle Playing Cards. All creative credit goes to Mark Tarry for suggesting this idea on a whim. It was pure genius. Handing one these cards out to an unsuspecting person was an absolute joy.
MAG-STRIPE CURRENCY CARDS — 2007
The visual direction was to incorporate details from real currency, with hash lines and gradients. The two notable functional additions to these cards was the mag-stripe to reconcile the cards in the POS upon redemption, and an expiration date. It turns out as a publicly traded company (A/O 2006) coupons need to expire, otherwise they become an eternal liability—Wall Street frowns on that.
ROLE:
Concept Development / Creative Direction
TEAM:
Mark Tarry Design
Chipotle Creative Team
FOCUS:
Print Design / Copywriting
NEW LOGO CURRENCY CARDS — 2010
Still using cues from real currency, these cards featured the redesigned Chipotle logo (late 2008) and updated color palette. We also developed variations beyond just a FREE burrito, with the BOGO cards and free Chips & Guac. Driving trial wasn't as necessary at this point in time, so the "lesser" freebies could still generate goodwill at a reduced cost for the company.
ROLE:
Concept Development / Creative Direction / Copywriting
TEAM:
sequence (now part of Salesforce)
Chipotle Creative Team
FOCUS:
Print Design / Copywriting
FARMER TRADING CARDS — 2012
With the next redesign we decided to make the currency work a little harder in terms of messaging. We integrated Chipotle's Food with Integrity mission into the design, creating cards that celebrated the suppliers and told their individual stories. Unlike other fast food companies, the more people know about how Chipotle's ingredients are sourced, the more likely they are to eat there.
ROLE:
Concept Development / Creative Direction / Copywriting
TEAM:
Jd&Co Design
Chipotle Creative Team
FOCUS:
Print Design / Copywriting
