The Secret Ingredient Is Humanity
Case study: “Chipotle Unwrapped” interview series
Hey friend,
It’s great to see you. I hope your summer is going great!
Here is an interesting use case I’ve recently come across during my leisurely doom strolls. These days, you can also play a flâneur online…
Do you know that if you mix a celebrity and your product, placed in a popular entertainment format, you’ll get a powerful brand storytelling series?
I’m speaking about the “Chipotle Unwrapped” series, launched on June 14, 2021, as part of Team Chipotle’s athlete-focused menu and campaign.
What captured my attention was the series' simple storytelling formula to engage their audience leading with emotions first.
This format is well tested.
Think Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” Or in print, the Financial Times’ Lunch with [some bold name].
In nutshell, it’s a simulated intimate 1:1 conversation between close friends that encourages emotional openness and authenticity.
The format
Jenny Taft, a sports TV host and reporter, best known for her work for FOX Sports, interviews a celebrity athlete (AKA the magnet).
The focus is on the athlete’s humble backstory and emotional moments, while he’s sharing his favorite Chipotle order.
See examples:
The goal
The campaign goal was to drive fans to order athletes’ go-to-meals through Chipotle’s app and website.
To max response, the brand leveraged the Scarcity principle and kept those special orders on limited-time digital menu items.
From a storytelling perspective, fans get a rare glimpse into the lives of their favorite athletes, who are not only sharing their vulnerabilities, their challenging roads to fame, but also their go-to-meal.
These celebrity partnerships travel well across the brand’s owned, earned and paid channels, as you can see from these two examples, posted from the athletes’ profiles, and later their fans’.
The series help the brand max its reach by targeting an already psyched up customer segment of sports fans obsessed with their idols.
With the explosion of podcasting, and the particular growth in video interviews, this ad format is effectively riding the wave.
The brand integration covers both the Chipotle restaurant location where interviews take place, and the featured athlete’s order.
Location + product.
The interview is seeded with product and athlete style shots, posing or enjoying their meal.
Personally, I’d remove those standalone shots as it boosts up the salesy nature of the video - and instead keep only those that are naturally integrated as part of the dialog.
To me it felt forced.
Four years in, early this January, Chipotle extended this series, this time, focusing on hockey players and snowboarder Red Gerard.
This tells you this program is performing quite well.
Over to you!
You’re right! We’re talking about a major brand here with mega budget to spend on celebrity partnerships and media.
However, I bet you could easily put together your own branded interview series.
It might not be with an A-lister celebrity but could be someone from your business network (e.g., client, partner, influencer) or one of your employees giving your audience a backstage human look into your brand.
In fact, Chipotle ran this angle with their employee stories.
One thing I bet you’ve noticed, too.
No AI is required. If you insist, you can use AI tools maybe for post-production and content syndication.
Otherwise, it’s 100% handmade.
Zooming out, product placement is an ancient strategy to engage audiences with a brand experience wrapped in a fun entertainment container - be it a full-motion movie or TV show.
However, this Chipotle series is part of next gen evolution in branded entertainment.
Brands are becoming their own media companies producing TV shows, micro dramas, and documentary films where they have 100% artistic control vs. being constrained to product placement’s strict scripts.
Ready to try it out?
As always, be sure to first research your audience to find the right angle to build your series around.
Lastly, to produce a satisfying experience, don’t forget to keep a solid narrative cohesion.
See you next time!
Best,
- Shlomi
Shlomi Ron
Founder, Visual Storytelling Institute
shlomi@visualstorytell.com | Follow me on Notes
story > visual > emotion > experience
