Social Listening: Chipotle

When choosing a company/brand, I wanted to go with something that I personally had a lot of experience with. The first thing I thought of was food. I then thought to myself what kinds of food I enjoy eating everyday and boom, Chipotle came to mind. I love eating at Chipotle because it makes me feel good and  makes eating chicken and rice every day even more fun. After all, the company preaches that the food is "as real as it gets" and that they fight to keep the planet safe. I didn't know what other people thought of it outside of my friends or people I'm close to, so I decided to take a look at Chipotle's twitter account. I was shocked to see the mix of opinions that other people had. 

Chipotle's value proposition is that food has the power to change the world. They want to create an enhanced fast food experience while providing fresh food every day. Even on Chipotle's website, one of the slogans reads "Being real means we only use 53 ingredients you can pronounce." They take great pride in the quality of their food and it shows when responding to customer experiences. 

As I looked through the tweets and replies of Chipotle's twitter, I continuously saw people saying bad things about the app and online orders. This is one of many examples that illustrate how orders were messed up, wait times were super high, and there was no way of getting refunded. 

I also saw a few times that the dining area or kitchen was very dirty and needed to be cleaned. This woman described the Chipotle dining rooms being a "complete pig sty." I personally have never noticed a

Chipotle dining room as being gross, but I also haven't payed much attention to the kitchen. 

A lot of the reviews were as expected though. People love chipotle and what they have to offer because of the quality food they provide. This gentlemen has the same feelings towards the company as I do. 

I wanted to see if Chipotle was as active with their customers on any other platforms like they are on Twitter, so I looked into their Instagram and the result was the same. The account is very active and replies too many of the experiences people share. Chipotle is trying to promote fast replies and good customer service by allowing them to follow up directly on any negative encounter by clicking the link they reply with. Most of the replies to other peoples tweets were very fast within the hour. Being this active on their social platforms shows the care they have for the people buying their product. I also noticed the different collaborations they did with tiktok stars Nick Digiovanni and Keith Lee. Both of these tiktok accounts made their following by making food videos. In Nick's video, Chipotle allowed him to show how their vinaigrette was made and everyone loved it. The comments went crazy about how they loved this with the salads and it made a lot of publicity for Nick's account and Chipotle. These collaborations are great because they relate with the target audience the company is trying to reach. 

Even though the replies to the complaints were quick and provided a way for customers to personally reach the company, the number of negative replies regarding their app and online orders were too much to ignore. I see this as Chipotle's biggest challenge. They have to build brand recognition with more than just inside ordering. Some consumers are on the go and can only place orders online, through door dash, or their personal app. The more a company can provide for their customers on the go, the better off they will be and they're having some troubles doing that. 

I feel as if Chipotle responded well to their customers. The replies they gave were direct and showed the mission of the business. This is great as a consumer because if a company is replying to the people buying their product this way, it shows they care and are trying to improve. That being said, if I was in charge of their social media, I would try to be even more personal with the people replying and commented on the social accounts. While they are replying, some of them can seem bland at times. I would also try to have a humorous message when posting on the account to create a relationship with the customers. In this assignment, I learned just how important social media is to a company and the opportunities it can create. A combination of fast replies and good customer service can leave a good impression on others and creates a relationship with the buyer.