Qdoba Mexican Grill’s latest online marketing campaign aims to rally customers around the cure to “Burrito Boredom,” an affliction the chain said it discovered while reading research that found consumers tend to order the same meals when they dine out.
The brand plans to fight the epidemic — which is “caused by repeatedly eating blah burritos without innovative flavors or creative menu options” — in several ways through its new advocacy group, Food Lovers Fighting Burrito Boredom, or FLFBB.
To call attention to the condition, Qdoba’s manager of nontraditional media, Doug Thielen, cites a recent J.D. Power & Associates study that found one-half of quick-service customers order the same meal every time they eat at a certain restaurant chain.
“At some Mexican restaurants, customers get stuck in a rut ordering the same burrito because they don’t have many choices, even though Mexican cuisine is known for a wide variety of flavors, spices and entrees,” Thielen said in a statement. “Thanks to FLFBB, we’re able to provide Burrito Boredom sufferers an online community to learn more about this condition and provide an appetite-enlightening cure.”
Thielen helps visitors to FLFBB’s website identify the signs of Burrito Boredom in a series of online videos. Consumers then can take the website’s self-diagnosis test to determine whether they’re in a rut and always ordering the same burrito.
The point of the campaign, however, is the cure Qdoba plans to provide. Consumers can obtain a printable coupon from the FLFBB website by creating a custom Qdoba meal on the Meal Builder application, and they can share that combination via e-mail, Facebook or Twitter. A test of the application yielded a coupon for 50 percent off the created entrée and which expired two days after the offer was generated.
Members of the chain’s loyalty program also may be able to get their favorite entrees for free by checking in at a participating location on Foursquare and adding a comment about how they’re beating Burrito Boredom. The customers must have a valid Qdoba Card and include the card’s number in their check-in message to qualify.
Qdoba also is running a concurrent sweepstakes for free entrées for a year. Contestants can enter by posting their own 15-second videos describing how Burrito Boredom has affected them to the FLFBB website. The videos all will be collected and played under the website’s “Support Group” tab.
The campaign and all its offers will be active until Oct. 1.
Wheat Ridge, Colo.-based Qdoba is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jack in the Box Inc. and operates or franchises more than 500 restaurants in 43 states and the District of Columbia.
Contact Mark Brandau at [email protected].