I love watching Chipotle evolve. One of the reasons is probably due to the fact that I love eating Chiplotle, but that’s besides the point.

Chipotle’s ads are clean, crisp and iconic – If you see a foil-wrapped burrito, you know it’s an ad for Chipotle.

I just read a great article on SmartBlogs by Bernie Pitzel:  http://smartblogs.com/food-and-beverage/2012/04/27/dont-buck-tradition-build-on-it/ This article talks about how Chipotle launched into one of the largest brands by using traditional marketing: outdoor advertising and radio. Pitzel recalls a radio spot that I can literally sign out loud, even though I haven’t heard it in forever: “I’m talking about pork. Pork. Pork. Pork. Pork. What do I want at the end of my fork? I want pork.” This screams Chipotle. This article specifically talked about Chipotle’s traditional marketing, which has worked so well. But what about “new” marketing tactics like social media….

Well, Chipotle is also excelling at this. @ChipotleMexicanGrill has over 1.7 million “likes.” Of course they post about menu items, new things like reusable bags and gift cards for holidays, but what I love is at the end of all of their posts, the person signs it with their name –  Last week, Chipotle posted this:

I don’t know who “Joe” is, but it gives the BIG corporation and LARGE fan page a personality. And this “Joe” is not the only one who posts on the page – There’s Rusty and Myra and more….

Chipotle does a great job encouraging their fans to share links or images – The most popular I’ve seen was the BOGO Free burrito if you checked in on Facebook Places – And there were a ton of free burritos given out by the response I saw (and yes, I was one of those freebies!).

Now, let’s talk about TV ads – Chipotle ran an amazing ad during the 2012 Grammy Awards that caught the attention of viewers, but more importantly, made them tweet, Facebook & blog about the importance of the “modern day food chain.” If you haven’t seen this ad, watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMfSGt6rHos So I guess technically, this TV ad would be considered a ”traditional” marketing tactic, but the way it went viral is definitely more “modern” in technique.

Where am I going with all of this? Chipotle is using a mix of “traditional” marketing which is awesome, but pairing these tactics with their exploding social media marketing is making for a killer marketing plan. Why so killer, you ask? According to www.chipotle.com, comparing 1st Quarter 2012 to 1st Quarter 2011:

• Revenue increased 25.8% to $640.6 million
• Comparable restaurant sales increased 12.7%
• Restaurant level operating margin was 27.4%, an increase of 220 basis points
• Net income was $62.7 million, an increase of 35.1%
• Diluted earnings per share was $1.97, an increase of 34.9%

In addition to making amazing chicken burrito bowls, Chipotle is doing something right!

If you’ve been to Starbucks recently or perhaps you’ve seen a commercial featuring the company’s new VIA instant coffee – Turns out launching this new product line was the perfect idea, even despite the recession.

In 10 months, the instant coffee line hit the $100 million mark – The company states it took the Frappuccino line 3 years to hit that mark.

Fifty-five percent of Starbucks VIA customers surveyed are drinking it at home; 25 percent at work; and the remaining 20 percent while on the go,” according to a statement from Starbucks.

Almost 40 percent of the customers surveyed said the instant-coffee product is being consumed in addition to beverages they were already drinking. A statement from Starbucks interpreted that to mean VIA isn’t replacing other Starbucks beverages in the big picture – which was that company’s goal, of course.

I, for one, tried the VIA instant coffee a few weeks ago while visiting my in-laws; they are not coffee drinkers, therefore they do not have a coffee maker – blasphemy, I know! I just h-a-d to get some coffee, and VIA was the perfect solution to my problem.

Even in the midst of a recession, this new product flourished – Which makes me wonder what new products other companies could launch, but perhaps are too afraid to. Or maybe not even a new product; perhaps you need to think of a current product, change it up a little, lower the price point (a 3-pack of VIA instant coffee is like $2.95 – the cheapest thing I’ve bought from Starbucks in years.) – As we look at the last half of this year, perhaps now is the time to think up something new to offer your customers.

I received an interesting ad yesterday – It was a direct mail piece for a local car dealership. It was 4 pages, full color, printed on a thick cover stock – and a key was taped to the front. Yes, a real key. There was a lotto scratch game on the front, and if you scratched off a certain car, you were to go into the dealership to see if your key worked to open that car. If so, you win the car.

So I scratched off the circle and sure enough, the car symbol was under there – I bet every direct mail piece had that car symbol – After all, the dealership wants me to come in to see if my key works. So did I rush to the dealership this morning to see if my key works? No.

This begs the question – Does expensive marketing tactics work? Are ad ploys a good thing and worth the money? I cannot even imagine how much it was to print the direct mail, get the keys made, tape the keys on the direct mail, buy the lists and then pay for postage… And was it worth it? They didn’t get me to come in.

I do think certain creative marketing ploys could get customers in your door – I guess you need to figure out your budget and if that marketing ploy is worth the investment.