Dive Brief:

• Chipotle Mexican Grill and legendary hip-hop artist RZA, the creator and producer of the group Wu-Tang Clan, have teamed up for SAVOR.WAVS, an immersive digital experience that turns each of the 51 ingredients used by Chipotle into sounds and visuals, according to a news release by the quick service restaurant chain. SAVOR.WAVS was developed by Chipotle and CAA Marketing.
• RZA composed the instrumental sounds and visuals based on their accompanying ingredient. The result is a unique visual song that represents any menu combination possible at Chipotle. Customers can go to SAVORWAVS.com to compose their own order that ends up as a 360-degree visual experience that reacts in real-time to the movement of mobile devices.
• Other noteworthy musicians have already spun their own songs via SAVOR.WAVS, per the release, including RZA's fellow Wu-Tang members Raekwon, Method Man and Ghostface Killah, along with The Head and the Heart, Awolnation, GRiZ and PANG! 

Dive Insight:

Chipotle has been reshaping its marketing strategy this year, rolling out its first-ever national broadcast campaign for TV and releasing an unbranded video series on iTunes geared toward 7- to 10-year-olds and dedicated to food education. SAVOR.WAVS, while also focused on Chipotle's healthy ingredients messaging, takes a slightly different approach in execution, with an emphasis on user-generated content and bleeding edge tech including 360-degree video — offerings which the brand likely hopes will spur engagement and get people sharing their visual creations on social media. 

Leveraging a well-known and acclaimed musician like RZA to aid in crafting the SAVOR.WAVS experience might attract interest from outside Chipotle's core customer base. In May, Lexus rolled out a similar campaign, tapping "Uptown Funk" hit maker Mark Ronson for an interactive music sequencer that let fans soundtrack and then share a video short starring the producer. 

The SAVOR.WAVS news also comes at a time when Chipotle is facing another brand management issue in regards to food safety. It had to close a Virginia location this week after several customers fell ill with norovirus, an echo of a problem dating back to late 2015 and early 2016 that Chipotle had seemingly overcome. As with any reputation management challenge, once a brand gets tarnished around a specific event, any subsequent recurrence might draw extra criticism.