Gen-Z, Millennial Media Opps: Chipotle launches clothing line amid ad spend increases

Chipotle debuted a holiday lounge wear line called "Holiday Goods." The line includes Chipotle branded hoodies, joggers, thermal beanies and pajamas. The company is capitalizing on the recent popularity of lounge wear, as people are stuck at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Experimental marketing initiatives like this are popular among its Gen-Z and millennial base, and will likely be supported by extra ad dollars. It is donating all profits from the collection towards sustainable farming and fashion organizations, which will also be popular among its base. The Holiday Goods apparel are available online here. 

According to iSpot, Chipotle spent around $70.3m on national TV ads YTD, a 7% increase from $66m spent during the same time period of 2019. Full-year spend equaled $69.3m in 2019 and $37.8m in 2018. This year, it placed ads during programming such as "NFL Football," "NBA Basketball," "College Football," "Ridiculousness" and "South Park."

Magellan reports Chipotle placed around 140 podcast ads over the last year. 

Per Pathmatics, Chipotle earned 2.8b impressions through Instagram ads (42%), Facebook ads (33%), desktop video ads (16%), Twitter ads (6%) and desktop display ads (3%). It placed the majority (98%) of these ads site direct onto sites such as instagram.com, facebook.com, youtube.com, twitter.com and hulu.com. It placed the remainder indirectly through Teads onto sites such as reddit.com, hulu.com, yahoo.com, twitch.tv and espn.com. It spent around $22m on digital display ads YTD, a significant increase from $8m spent during the same time period of 2019. It spent $8.6m in 2019 and $8.3m in 2018. 

Sellers-- Chipotle mainly targets Gen-Z and millennials with a male skew. It reaches these demographics primarily through digital display and national TV ads. The company has been increasing spend in both channels, especially digital. It also invests in radio and local broadcast TV ads, per Kantar. Sellers should reach out soon to secure some of these extra ad dollars. 

Agency & martech readers-- We believe the only agency Chipotle is currently working with is creative shop Venables Bell & Partners. There do not seem to be any signals pointing to an agency review anytime soon. I recommend looking for work elsewhere for the time being.