- Chipotle is capitalizing on the craze around collectible trading cards with a gamified Roblox promotion tied to Cinco de Mayo, according to a press release.
- Ingredient Quest, which launches throughout the restaurant’s existing Burrito Builder experience on May 5, sets players on the hunt for 53 virtual cards, each representing a unique Chipotle ingredient. Those who accrue the total collection first can receive a suggestion for a free entree from the Mexican chain.
- From May 1-5, Chipotle can be nixing delivery fees with a special code, “Deliver,” for orders placed through its app or website. The brand continues to expand its work on Roblox, which has turn into a well-liked destination for Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers and a viable channel to strengthen sales and loyalty.
Chipotle says Ingredient Quest and the larger promotional blitz represent its biggest effort yet around Cinco de Mayo. The fast-casual chain has turn into a daily on Roblox, leveraging the youth-oriented gaming platform as a channel to dole out rewards, launch new menu items and even debut promoting creative.
Ingredient Quest is inspired by the renaissance for nostalgic trading card collecting, where consumers have began buying up brands like Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering in droves and filming social media response videos of their “pulls,” or once they rip open a fresh pack and uncover an especially desirable card. Pull videos can rack up thousands and thousands of views as people chase the vicarious rush of those discoveries. Demand for trading cards has also left store shelves barren while bolstering the resale market and the grading corporations that assess the condition and value of rare finds.
Chipotle is translating the concept into the virtual realm by allowing players to exchange in-game currency earned from Burrito Builder, an existing game, for packs of 5 ingredient cards (they’ll receive five cards initially as well). Eight additional ingredient cards are hidden across the Roblox world, adding a scavenger hunt component to the experience.
To make Ingredient Quest more competitive, Chipotle can be giving the primary 50,000 players to collect the total set of 53 cards a free entree offer. Beyond the promise of rewards, Chipotle is touting the promotion as a tool to educate Gen Z consumers about its responsibly sourced ingredients, a part of a long-standing brand positioning around using “real food.”
Discussing Q1 earnings last week, Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright said the brand would “meaningfully ramp up our marketing spend” starting in May and thru the summer season, including through increases in activity around digital, social and rewards. The chief executive added that summer has tended to be a softer sales period in recent times, making marketing a more essential tool to drive traffic.
The QSR saw same-store sales, a very important measure of restaurant health, decline 0.4% over the opening stretch of the 12 months, the primary such drop since 2020 and an indication that macroeconomic volatility stemming from tariffs is affecting consumer decisions.
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