05/16/2017

Building Burrito Brand Loyalty

When brands suffer, many target their loyalists to buoy their images

When Chipotle, a leader in the fast-casual space, was confronted with a food safety crisis two years ago, the brand suffered. To recover, the company reestablished relationships with its most loyal customers. It’s a strategy associations can learn from.

What do burrito bowls and associations have in common? Talk to William Espey, brand creative lead for Chipotle, and he’ll tell you: a lot.

Chipotle was a breakout success in the restaurant industry’s fast-casual space, but in 2015 the company was in full on crisis mode. A supply chain issue led to an E. coli breakout in about 15 Chipotle restaurants in the United States, causing nearly 40 people to get sick.

Please click here to read the complete article from Associations Now.