An Important Branding Lesson From a Chipotle Ad

The big game for many social ventures is changing underlying patterns of consumption to create a more sustainable world. Whether they're a new tea company trying to reshape how people engage with the people who produce their beverages or a clothing company trying to source ethically, their biggest challenge is getting consumers to care. A recent advertisement from Chipotle might offer some surprising insights about where to focus the message.

The advertisement reads: "We wanted to have farmers in our ads, but what sells are delicious burritos, not lessons on sustainable farming." The words "We...have...delicious burritos" are in a dark black font, while the rest is in subtle gray.

The premise of the advertisement is to pretty clear: on the one hand, they want you to know that they care and think about the places that their products come from. On the other hand, they also want you to know that what is ultimately important is that their product is delicious.

This reinforces the lessons from the fair trade movement thus far: fair trade can't impose a "tax" for a less tasty or less quality product on consumers. Basically, whatever the product is has to be "good" as judged simply against the quality of other, comparative, non-fair trade products. The way in which it was produced can be legitimately important to a consumer, but still not overcome other deficiencies.

But that doesn't solve the branding question. How much should these ethical, sustainable companies focus their branding and marketing around the story of where their products came from, and how they were produced, versus the traditional emphasis on how they make the consumer feel?

This came up a bunch at the Unreasonable Institute, particularly with ventures like Liga Masiva that are not even just "fair trade" but are actually positioning themselves to embody a relationship between consumers and produces that is even one step beyond that designation.

I tend not to believe that selling the story of social change alone is enough to shift consumer behavior. I'm getting more and more convinced that the right way to come at it is sort of to reinvent the lifestyle brand in a way that is energetic, young (both in terms of age and spirit), and presumes a sort of global interconnectedness and social good aspiration by default.

I think the whole "Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability" (LOHAS) movement sort of goes for this, but I think that it is still a little inaccessible for the average consumer. It's definitely not youth facing in the way that I think many of the companies I know are going for.

Chipotle's ad certainly puts their stamp on the conversation. Letting people know about the sustainable farmers behind their burritos matters, but not nearly as much as the fact that they are delicious.

Photo credit: Nathaniel Whittemore