About the Guest

Tressie Lieberman, Vice President of Digital Marketing and Off-Premise for Chipotle, is responsible for driving digital engagement and growth of new ordering occasions. In this role, Lieberman oversees a team dedicated to building relationships with the brand’s community through social media, the Chipotle Rewards loyalty program, and CRM. Lieberman also drives the strategy and marketing of the delivery and catering business through strategic partnerships and promotions. Under Lieberman’s leadership, Chipotle has evolved consumer engagement to include breakthrough marketing initiatives such as launching the Chipotle Rewards program utilizing Venmo as a social network, creating an influencer-inspired menu with influencer David Dobrik’s namesake burrito and building the brand’s leadership on TikTok. She has achieved accolades such as being named on the Nation’s Restaurant News Power List and Advertising Age Women to Watch.

Episode Summary

In this episode, we talk to Tressie Lieberman, Chipotle’s VP of Digital and Off-Premise, and one of the restaurant industry’s leading voices on digital marketing. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten the industry as we know it, but Tressie shares how Chipotle has redefined the way restaurants can engage with their customers to adapt to the current and future environment. Tune in to hear how Chipotle engages with its 15 million loyalty members and constantly innovates to meet their evolving needs.

Episode Transcript

Zach Goldstein

(00:01):

From fake meat and robot chefs to ghost kitchens and delivery drones. The restaurant industry is rapidly evolving. Welcome to Food Fighters, bringing you interviews with the leading industry trailblazers. I’m your host, Zach Goldstein.

Zach Goldstein

(00:01):

Welcome back to Food Fighters. I’m your host, Zach Goldstein, excited to be here with Tressie Lieberman. Tressie is the Vice President of Digital Marketing and Off-Premise for Chipotle. She’s responsible for driving digital engagement and growth of new ordering occasions and responsible for the loyalty program and CRM that is making Chipotle an industry leader. Tressie received accolades such as being named the Nation’s Restaurant News Power List and Advertising Age Women to Watch. So, very excited to kick off this next season of Food Fighters podcast interviews with Tressie. Thanks for joining us Tressie.

Tressie Lieberman

(00:55):

Thanks so much for having me.

Zach Goldstein

(00:58):

So the news is coming fast and furious right now in the middle of a global pandemic and a national one. And Chipotle is standing out with an amazing set of accomplishments. Your loyalty program is growing at a rapid rate. Last figure I saw 15 million users. Your stock price is drastically outperforming the restaurant industry. I think relative to the Dow Jones restaurant and bar index, Chipotle lays up 50% higher than that average since the beginning of COVID. You sit right at the heart of that, as you think about the digital initiatives that are helping Chipotle shine in the middle of a really game-changing time for restaurants. It must’ve been a crazy period for you to tell us about just some of the many things that you’re juggling as you think about bringing a restaurant brand into this new digital year.

Tressie Lieberman

(01:52):

Chipotle is extremely fortunate to have a wonderful digital foundation and a lot of learnings behind us as we approach this new era. And for me, it’s really exciting because I love studying customer behavior. And I feel like we’re at a point in time where behavior is changing rapidly and people are forming new habits. And so it’s just been an opportunity to let them know about different ways to access the brand from our delivery business, to contactless pickup in the restaurant, through to the marketplace partners that we work with, and to go in the restaurant, there’s just so many ways that you can get Chipotle. And this has been the time to share that story. And we’ve just been working to tell it in different ways to drive culture, to get people talking about Chipotle delivery or pickup, and really getting them to join our rewards program. So we can now keep them in that community and keep them engaged as the world changes. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s definitely been challenging, but I think I enjoy a little bit of good fun, just an opportunity to learn, test, iterate, and it’s really what drives me. So it’s been an interesting time.

Zach Goldstein

(03:08):

These last 15 months – I think it’s been roughly 15 months since you launched the rewards program, or the loyalty program. This is about as fast a member growth, as I think the industry has ever seen, perhaps with the exception of Starbucks, but even then getting to 15 million members in 15 months is really quite phenomenal. And unheard of, there’s probably a lot to that, which includes the fact that there are just diehard Chipotle diners; but what has been your strategy to growing that digital community and that loyalty program so effectively?

Tressie Lieberman

(03:44):

You definitely hit it with the Chipotle fanatics. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to join the brand. I’m a Chipotle fanatic myself. And I was able to see just looking at the social conversation when I joined how much people love Chipotle and how much they wanted a rewards program. And so when we launched it, we actually used Venmo to announce that we were launching a program and we had an insight that the only thing better than free money is free Chipotle. So we said, well, everybody’s talking about money. They’re talking about Chipotle on Venmo. Let’s use them to launch the program. And we were one of the first brands to do payouts within the Venmo platform where we surprise people with amounts ranging from $2 for free guac all the way to $500. And it got people talking about Chipotle rewards. And from there, we’ve just continued to come up with campaigns to build that awareness. In February, we launched Guac Mode, which was a way for founding members, people who joined within the first year of the program to get free guac throughout the year. And people are extremely passionate about our guac so that got more sign ups going. And then really when you order digitally, it’s just so easy to sign up. And as our digital business grows that’s when we think about the flywheel of the business. People opt in to join the program. And as we’ve seen with the explosive growth of delivery and pickup, we’re able to drive more members. So it just then becomes a constant cycle of that.

Zach Goldstein

(05:12):

I’ve heard you talk about this flywheel before, and it’s something that we talk a lot about at Thanx as well: the importance of integrating your digital ordering and your CRM to deliver not just new ways for people to purchase through the brand, but more personalized experiences. Tell us more about the flywheel and how you think about each of those components making you better at both digital and personalization at the same time.

Tressie Lieberman

(05:39):

I think everything works together. You look at people who go to the restaurant: is there a go-to place to order when they join the rewards program, we can now message them about other ways to access the brand like contactless pickup or delivery or new menu or our brand purpose. So you’re able to just communicate in a different way to people who joined the restaurant or someone who joins digitally. If you come in through the delivery channel, as an example, I can now talk to you about an occasion where you might want to come into the restaurant; talk to you about early access to a new menu items. So all the different pieces work together. And I do think about the channel preference of our customers and how we shape that narrative and how we shape the stories because CRM gives us the ability to have an internet relationship with customers, but do it at scale with 15 million members. So it just unlocks so much opportunity. I think it’s the most exciting thing to think about because we can have this personal, relevant relationship with people. And that’s the holy grail of marketing, especially when you have such a passionate, engaged base. We’ve only had the program a little over a year, so it’s not necessarily about these members who’ve been in the program forever and trying to ignite them, it’s keeping all these new people engaged and it’s a really exciting opportunity.

Zach Goldstein

(07:05):

Well, one of the challenges that I think has been discussed many times in various executive or boardroom discussions is how long do you have to wait before your loyalty program starts producing results? And I think there’s a lot of ways to define results. Ultimately that comes down to increasing sales, but in the immediate term, it comes down to people raving about your brand or engaging in ways that drive increases in frequency. What are you seeing even in the early days that made you realize this is a unique program? The growth is off the charts. But you must have been seeing that type of type of engagement from day one when you started that Venmo program.

Tressie Lieberman

(07:52):

At Chipotle, we have a stage gate process. So everything we do goes through very thorough testing. So before we ever launched nationally, we had been testing the program in several markets and gaining the learnings from that and optimizing the program. And ultimately what you’re looking for is creating the relationship. I do always think we’re a media company. If we’re sharing our story, how can we do it in a way that really does justice to the brand? Because I think we have so many cool things to share. And then it’s driving that frequency because people create a relationship with you and you have so many different tools to do that, whether it’s double points and different bonuses that we’ve offered or just sharing great stories. So I think it’s a matter of testing, learning, and getting better. And to me that’s, again, just such a fun part of my job because we don’t ever launch something and say, okay, our work is done here. And we move on to the next thing. You are really a student of what’s going on and understanding the customer and thinking about how you can get the right message to the right person at the right time. And I think that’s a cliche, it’s something I’ve been saying for a long time, but it’s so true. The power of having this one on one relationship where you can actually execute that at scale is extremely powerful.

Zach Goldstein

(09:11):

Well, and it moves beyond what I think has often been the challenge of a loyalty program. And frankly, I think it was probably the challenge historically at Chipotle in not wanting to launch a loyalty program at all back in the day, which is a rote rewards program is maybe not that exciting, something that is buy X, get Y and it never changes and it’s not personalized and everyone’s largely treated the same. It’s questionable how much ROI that drives, but it’s also just not that exciting for your customers. And when you talk about VIP status and people getting guac for a year, that’s unique to Chipotle that’s very brand specific, and that must be driving a lot of this deeper connection you’re talking about.

Tressie Lieberman

(09:56):

A hundred percent. I mean, even the word loyalty at its core is about creating a relationship and it’s about creating more advocacy around your brand. And if you can put in another brand’s name with the idea that you’re working against, and it makes sense, I don’t think it’s the right idea for us. And something like Guac Mode, where you just have these fanatics who love talking about guac, they’ll do anything for free guac. And when you can make that a program and get advocates talking about it, it’s just such a big win. And so we’re constantly looking for that, right? Going back to insights that we can learn about our customer and thinking about how we bring that to life and our content and the activations that we’re doing.

Zach Goldstein

(10:41):

So switching gears a bit, because I think that personalization certainly matters as we talked about with the flywheel, for bringing people along on the digital experience. But another area that you have absolutely innovated is changing the brand to be so welcoming of off-premise dining occasions. Whether that is a delivery or pickup, ordering through your app, or the operational changes such as the second make line, when you showed up at Chipotle and you thought about, “Okay, we have to make this truly a digital brand and we have to make off-premise a strength, not just something we do.” That’s a huge task. How did you get started? And how far along on that journey are you right now? What’s still to come?

Tressie Lieberman

(11:28):

I think it all comes back to partnership. We have an incredible product team. We have an incredible technology team, business intelligence team. Really world class talent at Chipotle. And my team has been focused on just building awareness around the incredible products that they are developing and being obsessed about the customer and where that customer is going, and then creating a program that shows that we really care more than anyone else. When you look at the history of Chipotle, it’s been a brand that obsesses the details, and we want to obsess the details around delivery and make sure it’s right. You know, we were started by Steve Ells, who was a classically trained chef. And you think about a classically trained chef and think about your food and what will it be like when it leaves your restaurant? Really it’s been about dialing in that experience. And I think from there, we’ve really been focused on just telling the stories to get people to know that we have delivery because it’s an entirely new product, or it’s only a few years that we’ve had delivery. And so how do we create the cultural machine to share that news and get people to think about Chipotle as a delivery destination? Because typically it would have been, the first thing to come to mind is, okay, I’m craving delivery. What brand do I want? You know Chipotle wasn’t in that consideration set a few years ago. And so my team’s job is to really think about how we get into that consideration set. So we’ve taken all the tools that exist and shaped the stories and just gotten people to think about the brand, not just as a place to dine in. Certainly you can do that, but there are just so many different access points, and we’re all really motivated by the idea that we have real food, we have real ingredients you can feel good about eating, and that’s a story we want to tell, and we want people to think about Chipotle so they can make a good decision and get food they feel good about eating. So we’re continuing to do that. We’re just at the beginning of the journey in terms of shaping those stories and getting the word out. So certainly the last few months have been a wild ride as that’s been the way that a lot of customers have shifted to ordering their food. But again, I think it’s just the beginning.

Zach Goldstein

(13:51):

We don’t have to throw any mud at competitors, but what are the little details that stand out to you? What is it that Chipotle does does better as a digital experience than frankly anyone else in your mind?

Tressie Lieberman

(14:05):

Well, one, our digital kitchen is a super power, so we have a dedicated digital make line in every Chipotle. So you may not see that when you go in, if you’re ordering or going through the traditional line, but behind that line is a digital kitchen and we have a dedicated team who’s there to build your digital order and make sure it gets quickly put in the bag, sealed, And put on a dedicated pick up booth where either the customer’s picking it up for pickup or a driver’s picking it up and taking it to your home. So that’s a huge part of it. I think because we have that digital kitchen, we can really service orders in a fast, efficient, elevated way. And then the product team at Chipotle’s built a phenomenal experience. I think it’s extremely easy to use and also is a crave-worthy experience to merchandise our amazing ingredients and food. So, I think those two pieces alone are really the start. And then, that’s the beginning because you can join the rewards program, right? And then you get into that cycle creating the relationship with Chipotle and being able to get you that right messaging based off the journey that you’re in with the brand.

Zach Goldstein

(15:19):

What’s not there yet? I mean, it sounds like a crazy question because most people listening to this would say Chipotle is far and away ahead of most brands in the category on CRM, personalization, digital ordering. Those are – those have become strengths and in many ways synonymous. What’s not at the level you think it could be right now and you’re turning yours and your team’s attention towards?

Tressie Lieberman

(15:42):

Innovation is just so exciting in this space. I think even though we have a wonderful foundation, we’re always thinking about how to build on that, how to expand access and how to better serve customers, whether it’s packaging or the experience for our customer care. You think about the end to end journey of the digital experience. We want to innovate and lead in every part of that journey. So the whole thing is exciting, honestly, because it is in such early days.

Zach Goldstein

(16:16):

Right. I know that the idea of a second make line was absolutely fundamental to your ability to do the type of volume you’re doing right now. I would imagine as you think about different types of dining occasions and expanding when someone is choosing to pick up or deliver Chipotle, it means you’ve got to think through more about what is the product mix, how does that food travel; are you thinking about digital specific menus or changing the way you reward people for digital purchases versus delivery or pickup versus in store? I would imagine that’s all a moving target right now, but how do you think about innovating now that you’ve got the foundation laid?

Tressie Lieberman

(17:03):

I mean, we’ve already done a few things tied to menu innovation. So we have Lifestyle Bowls that you can only get digitally. And that came from thinking about how we solve a problem where people were trying to figure out how to order Keto or Whole 30 within the app. And they were doing the work themselves and we’re like, “Hey, we can make life easier.” And so we have Lifestyle Bowls where all the work is done for you and all the ingredients are preselected. So if you want the Whole 30 bowl, you can easily tap on that and enjoy a Whole 30 bowl without doing any work separately. We’ve tested influencer items. Our very first one we did was with David Dobrick, who is a huge Chipotle fan. And we had the launch for the Dobrick Burrito for National Burrito Day. And people were losing their minds. His fan base felt like this was merged. They could actually buy and not only buy, but eat and enjoy and get a taste of what David eats all the time. And so we’ve constantly been introducing these influencer-led bowls and burritos within the experience. So thinking about digital exclusives is definitely an opportunity. There’s a lot you can do digitally that you can’t do anywhere else. And so I certainly look through that lens, but thinking through how you remove friction and how do you evolve the experience is something that we’re constantly doing. And the cool thing is you can listen to all of this, right? We can understand what people are saying about the experience. And it just takes a lot of curiosity and passion and drive to keep digging in and keep thinking about those unlocks to evolve the experience, make it better.

Zach Goldstein

(18:47):

Yeah. And digital obviously has taken massive steps forward in this new post-COVID normal. And you’ve been innovating there as well, as Zoom concerts and virtual Hangouts. I have read about Chipotlanes; which of those are the types of things that are short term, because this is how people are engaging right now, where they’re stuck at home a lot more than normal? And which of those are the types of digital innovations that you think are going to become a requirement going forward for brands to succeed?

Tressie Lieberman

(19:23):

I think there’s always the quick wins that you need to be working through, looking at culture, seeing where it sits, thinking about how your consumer feels and how the brand connects to that moment. And that’s where you can get ideas like Chipotle Together – Chipotle Together being the series that we did on Zoom and Instagram lLve to bring joy to our customers when everybody was moving into lockdown and offer free burritos. We also have done several different campaigns for burritos, for healthcare heroes to get burritos to the people working on the front lines. So we’re always thinking about as a brand, how do you serve a need and how do you insert yourself in people’s lives in a way that can really have that shared value and connection. So that to me is just part of marketing and part of being relevant today.

Tressie Lieberman

(20:15):

The news cycle moves very fast and I think you need to constantly be out there to stay top of mind. Some of those trends become long-standing and they’re shaping culture. So you also have to be thinking ahead and thinking about those longer term trends. But today everything is moving so fast. Things that used to take years or months to move from idea to mainstream trend are happening within 24 hours. So you have to create a structure, a team, and a system that allows you to move fast for today while you’re planning for tomorrow,

Zach Goldstein

(20:54):

Foresee the future though. And sometimes I acknowledge there’s some luck in this; no one could have seen exactly where we are, but the decision to invest in Chipotlanes drive through, which was not synonymous with the footprint of most Chipotle restaurants. I read recently it’s up to a hundred different Chipotle lanes across the country, which are a pretty critical way to get food when people don’t want to walk into a restaurant. It’s pretty amazing.

Tressie Lieberman

(21:25):

Yeah, it’s interesting. And you think about omnichannel experience. I think the reality is a lot of customers need omnichannel. Some people want a very specific channel. I’m a delivery person through and through. I have a four year old and I get everything delivered. That is just my go-to in life. I’m the queen of all delivery, not just for food – – everything. And I cannot imagine my life without delivery. Other people really like that in-person feel; other people want to just go through the drive through. Everybody has different preferences. And I think a brand needs to be able to serve the key need states of customers. And the more you can get ahead of that and where you can think about ways that they’re going to want that access and anticipate that and deliver on it, the better off you’re going to be, because I think expectations are at an all-time high and you need to be prepared to serve people in their preferred way.

Zach Goldstein

(22:25):

Food Fighters stay on the cutting edge. So we talked about David Dobrick and I want to come back to TikTok a second, but before we move on, since you are a delivery guru yourself, there is a pretty hefty uncertainty that sits over the restaurant industry right now about what do we do with these third party delivery companies? Are they good for us? Are they threatening us? Are they taking margin? And I think it’s becoming clear that these are critical partners, but that every brand has to figure out how to engage with them in the way that’s appropriate for them and frankly, profitable for them. I know this is a very sensitive question as a huge portion – or an increasingly large portion – of business goes through delivery. But what are the considerations that you keep a very careful eye on as you try to strike the balance between leaning into those delivery partnerships, but ensuring that you still own the customer and, and frankly own the margin at the end of the day, that you need to make that viable?

Tressie Lieberman

(23:33):

I read your piece on this. We were all sharing that around. You know, ultimately, Of course I want people to have a relationship with Chipotle and I would love nothing more than every person who comes to Chipotle to have our awesome app on their phone and to join the rewards program and have that relationship with them and keep them informed. That has certainly been a huge focus at the same time. We know there are customers who have preferred modes of ordering through different marketplace apps, and I think it’s important to understand customer behavior there and be where your customers are looking for you. So it’s a dual strategy, certainly, but again, our focus continues to be on getting people to experience that Chipotle app and building awareness there.

Zach Goldstein

(24:28):

Many brands are exploring. Certainly some of the things that you’ve done around digital exclusives for ordering direct; other brands have been been leading from the front in some way on pricing differentiation, or they’ll take price on the third party marketplaces so that their products are actually more expensive if you go direct through Uber Eats or DoorDash than if you went direct to the restaurant. That’s a challenging trade-off. I know it must be one that you have considered over the years. Where are you now on that trade off? And do you think that’s a longterm state? Is it evolving? Is there someplace you think every restaurant should be, or it really is unique to the restaurant?

Tressie Lieberman

(25:14):

I think all decisions are so personal to the brand: who you are, what you stand for, what your customers expect. So it really is a personal decision, and I don’t think it’s one size fits all. I mean, all I can say is what an incredible industry that we get to work in, where there are so many things that we’re all trying to figure out and so much that we can learn and working in the digital space has always been, you know, really fulfilling in the sense that no day is the same and technology is changing quickly. The costumer is changing faster than ever in terms of behavior. And it wasn’t very long ago that I was sitting with all the different delivery players when they were in their very small – this is many years ago before I came to Chipotle – but in their very small office spaces and didn’t have any brand partners on board, it really wasn’t very long ago. So to think about how much things are changing is really mind blowing. And so I don’t have all the answers. I’ll say it’s just a matter of being the student and testing and learning and getting better. I’m very much wired to believe that you need to have a plan, but you also have a learning agenda to get smarter with each thing you do. And don’t pretend to have all answers either because things will change. So it’s really about creating a structure and a culture and a system of being fluid and flexible.

Zach Goldstein

(26:51):

For sure. And as you think about one of the downsides of, or potential downsides of, of having different pricing on the third party marketplaces, and through your direct digital channels, it could be slightly confusing to consumers, this idea that why does the same product cost more if I order it elsewhere. And yet many restaurant industry leaders have said, we need the customer to understand that there is indeed a profitability difference across those channels. Is that a concern, this idea that customers may see different prices, or is that a reality that you’ve just had to face, as you think about promoting your own digital channels versus versus a third party?

Tressie Lieberman

(27:36):

I’ve never been one to think I’m going to explain the finances of the business to a customer. I think customers are very smart at the same time. They don’t care about how we make money or how we don’t make money. That’s just not what a customer cares about; a customer cares about how are helping improve their lives. And so I’m really focused on thinking through how we continue to provide value and use delivery, to solve a problem with our customers.

Zach Goldstein

(28:08):

And when we think about what customers do care about: TikTok! Customers care about TikTok right now, and you have been innovating in ways to embrace new social channels and really put the brand out there. When did TikTok show up on your radar as a marketing channel that could be incredibly well suited for your customers? And I would imagine we’re in the early days, but what’s coming soon? As you use these social channels to promote exciting opportunities for your customers?

Tressie Lieberman

(28:43):

Yeah. I think it’s been almost two years since we were having conversations about TikTok. When you work in social, I call it being a culture hunter. You’re constantly trying to see how trends are shifting and where the consumer is going. And we saw TikTok pop up. And the first thing we did is, when you want to claim your handle… Pro tip: any time new channel comes out, but you just started listening and thinking, “Do people even want the brand here? What would our place be? What type of conversation would would we have here?” And as we were listening, we realized how many of our fans were talking about Chipotle. So we wanted to show up there and we spent a good while trying to come up with the right concept. We didn’t just want to be there for the sake of being there, but it wasn’t about copy pasting content. We had other channels. So when the right idea came to the team, we acted on it extremely quickly. It was Cinco de Mayo, not this year, but the last. And we launched an awesome challenge and it just skyrocketed. And as we saw the results, it became, as I mentioned, this idea of the learning agenda: “Okay, if we’re going to be here early, how can we get as much out of this to evolve?” And so we just would post, learn. We’ve learned so much just from commenting. Some of our best performing content ends up being comments. But, you know, putting out a lot of content to see what performs well and what doesn’t.

Zach Goldstein

(30:11):

How does a comment become a best performing piece of content?

Tressie Lieberman

(30:15):

It’s amazing how much engagement you can get on TikTok. I mean, we already have over a million followers on TikTok. It takes years to get to that level and some other platforms, but the opportunity for any content to take off in the algorithm, including a comment as part of content that’s taking off is just amazing. And personally I’ve really enjoyed it because there’s just so much creativity happening there. I think people are constantly figuring out new ways to tell stories. At first when it came out, it was just about joy and all this really fun lighthearted content. And now, talent, finding out about news as well. And it’s really a multifaceted channel. And the fact that the best content comes to the top versus you having to follow a bunch of people to curate the content for yourself is great. And I think that the algorithm is extremely smart. For example, I always say on Instagram, I’ll follow tons of brands. So I confuse the algorithm on Instagram. I follow a lot of younger influencers. I follow all sorts of brands just to try and learn on TikTok. I can never assume that what I’m seeing in my feed is what’s actually cool. Because when I talk to people on my team, they’re like, “No, that trend is a year old.” At 40 years old, the content showing up in my feed and that I’m engaging with is quite different from Gen Z. And it’s all about good content. And it’s all about knowing who you are. So I’ve just really enjoyed being on a platform, not only as a participant, as someone who just likes seeing the content there, but as a way to experiment and try all sorts of new content as a brand and be able to tell our brand story in a really engaging way. And I’m just blown away by our team, who’s creating all that content and only stories are just doing a phenomenal job. And then as part of it, you know, we’ve built really incredible relationships with the TikTok influencer community, the creator community, and they’re all just making the coolest content and they love the brand. And so there’s just a natural partnership there where we’re staying close and it’s really been cool just to see. I think because we were experimenting early on, it’s just given us an edge because we have a lot of learnings behind us.

Zach Goldstein

(32:43):

Is it an “and” or an “or”? And by that, I mean, as you add more social channels, it’s tempting to say, okay, we’re going to replace some of our mix or some of our effort on some of the more legacy channels, maybe Facebook, and spend more of our energy on some of the cutting edge channels. But, by actual engagement numbers, Facebook is still massively larger than where TikTok is. Can you ignore Facebook? Do you have to continue making the investment there? Cause eventually you’re stuck with how many different balls can you really juggle across all these marketing channels.

Tressie Lieberman

(33:25):

In particular? I think TikTok has been an “and” for us because it reaches or has reached a different audience. But obviously that audience evolves over time. It has to be prioritized. I don’t think that you can say, “Okay, we’re adding TikTok to the mix and the same teams working on it and everything else is an equal priority.” You kind of have to figure out what’s working, where are you getting the most engagement and then invest the time accordingly. There’s also a very different strategy on, you know, paid advertising and owned advertising and earned advertising. My team focuses on our own content. So all the organic content you’re seeing on the social channels is, um, you know, the work of that really talented group of people. And that doesn’t mean that that’s exactly the same strategy. You’re copy-pasting for how you reach people through paid advertising. So it’s really complex.

Zach Goldstein

(34:24):

Well, that tone means that we’re coming up against our end. I know that sound. So the last little anecdote that I’ll share, and it was before your time at Chipotle, but just to note just how different things are in the tools that you and your team and the leadership broadly have put in place at such a great brand. There was a time where things were a little bit more troubled at Chipotle and the stock price was about a third of its peak. And I will never forget receiving in the mail a free burrito coupon addressed to “Dear Valued Customer.” And I just thought at the time, “This is a really tough way to rebuild that relationship with customers and to fast forward to where we are today,” or, by the way, the stock price is five times higher than that low moment, and you have 15 million unique consumers in your loyalty program, and you are able to do this type of digital personalization. That is an unbelievable leap that you’ve made. And I think you should be very proud of it. So I’m sure it’s been a hard journey, and I’m sure there’s much more to go if you’re going to make another leap like that. What is Chipotle look like 24 months from now?

Tressie Lieberman

(35:54):

I can’t tell you that. I think we have incredible teams across the board at Chipotle, and that’s what I love. We work with good people on a brand that is next-level awesome. And everybody really believes in what we’re doing and all the things I talked about: the mindset of experimentation and learning and having that relentless curiosity, I think that’s what will continue to drive us to innovate and to serve our customer. So I can’t wait to see where we are in two years. It’s going to be awesome.

Zach Goldstein

(36:34):

You’re telling me that in a Chipotle with Tressie Lieberman involved, never again, will I see “Dear Valued Customer,” that’s for sure.

Tressie Lieberman

(36:43):

I certainly am not counting on that.

Zach Goldstein

(36:47):

Fair enough. Well, Tressie, thank you so much for the time. I know amid everything going on, this is a crazy time for those of us in the restaurant industry, and it’s incredibly valuable, to share your thoughts and insights right now, especially, so thank you for the time. Really enjoyed the conversation and look forward to seeing what you come up with next.

Tressie Lieberman

(37:10):

Thank you. Thanks so much. I really appreciate it.

Zach Goldstein

(37:13):

Absolutely. You’ve been listening to Food Fighters with me, Zach Goldstein. To subscribe to the podcast or to learn more about our featured guests visit thanx.com/food fighters. That’s Thanx. Spelled T H A N X.com/food fighters. This podcast is a production of Thanx, the leading CRM and digital engagement solution for restaurants. Until next time, keep fighting food fighters.