Brief:

• Chipotle Mexican Grill is giving away free food to Instagram users who are fast enough to respond to its short-lived offers. The burrito chain is posting codes to its Instagram account, giving 500 people at a time a chance to claim a free entrée by texting the code to a dedicated SMS messaging account, per information shared with Mobile Marketer.
• The codes started appearing at random times on Dec. 9, and the campaign runs through Dec. 13. Winners have until Dec. 31 to claim their free burrito by ordering online from a participating restaurant in the U.S.
• Once Chipotle receives 500 responses, it removes the Instagram post, leaving customers to wait until the next notice, Thrillist reported. The site recommends that Instagram users turn on notifications for Chipotle posts to receive real-time updates.

Insight:

Chipotle's food giveaway may help to boost its Instagram audience, which currently stands at 732,000 followers, as users of the platform follow its account to see the randomly posted redeemable codes. By urging Instagram users to respond to a call to action, Chipotle can also measure the effectiveness of the campaign in driving business to its online ordering channels.

Chipotle has made digital platforms a key part of its marketing efforts to reach younger, tech-savvy consumers, including its "Freeting" campaign to drive mobile engagement and interest in its delivery options around the close of the NBA season and several branded hashtag campaigns on social video app TikTok. The company also partnered with the digital payments app Venmo to drive interest in Chipotle Rewards, its customer loyalty program that grew to 7 million members by the end of Q3.

The holiday season campaign on Instagram is another sign that Chipotle's emphasis on mobile and digital channels are helping to turn around a business that had suffered from multiple food-safety crises and sluggish adoption of digital ordering that appeals to millennials. The efforts appear to be paying off, with revenue rising 15% to $1.4 billion in Q3 from a year earlier, while digital sales surged 88%.