Cultivating Community Goodwill and Positive Media Coverage After Relocating Headquarters

Chipotle Mexican Grill is a fast-casual restaurant brand cultivating a better world by serving responsibly-sourced, classically-cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. After appointing a new CEO and leadership team, the company relocated its headquarters to Newport Beach, Calif., with the goal of becoming a more culturally relevant brand that builds love and loyalty. As part of that, Chipotle created its first-ever float for the Rose Parade — an honored tradition in Southern California — made entirely of ingredients used in the restaurants, as a tribute to the company’s mission to cultivate a better world.

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Client
Services
Communications Strategy & Planning
Media Relations & Influencer Marketing
Industry
Multi-Unit Restaurants
Awards

CHallenge

In a competitive media market and crowded parade space, Linhart PR needed to generate positive local news coverage in Chipotle’s new hometown for its float that highlighted real farmers and the real ingredients served in restaurants.

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Solution

Linhart PR developed the following approach to drive results for Chipotle’s float appearance in the Rose Parade:

>>Seek insights on parade media coverage from Worldcom partner Pollack PR, a Southern California-based agency that has long-running experience with Rose Parade media relations.

>>Leveraging the learnings, offer media pre-parade float visits to capture the float being built with real ingredients and on-site Chipotle executive interviews to discuss the float, new HQ and Chipotle’s mission, plus offer TV segments with on-air visuals.

>>Generate additional coverage by:

  • Highlighting the float’s uniqueness to help it stand out among other floats
  • Offering interviews with Chipotle executives to the L.A. Times and O.C. Register, two key target outlets in Southern California
  • Conducting outreach on parade day to secure last-minute/final stories

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Results

Linhart PR secured 45 stories and more than 76 million impressions for Chipotle’s Rose Parade float. Specifically, Linhart PR secured:

  • 39 pre-parade stories building community goodwill by highlighting Chipotle’s participation in a Southern California tradition in outlets like CW-TV — Los Angeles and the O.C. Register
  • 6 stories showcasing Chipotle’s float and its unique attributes in key SoCal outlets like the L.A. Times and LA Daily News

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