Brief:

• Food delivery app Uber Eats is partnering with Chipotle Mexican Grill and Match Group's Hinge dating app on the "Chipotle Cuffing Season Menu," per an announcement emailed to Mobile Marketer.
• Ten customers who order from the special menu will have a chance to win dating advice from comedian Rebel Wilson. As part of the campaign, Hinge will add a profile prompt to its app that lets daters connect based on their Chipotle orders. Hinge users also can receive $20 off their next three orders from Chipotle delivered by Uber Eats.
• The custom menu targets singles looking for a relationship during the colder weather, colloquially known as "cuffing season," and features three kinds of meals to match a person's dating habits.

Insight:

The "Chipotle Cuffing Season Menu" is a novel way to combine the marketing efforts of Uber Eats, Chipotle and Hinge to reach younger adults who are familiar with dating apps and food delivery services. The collective campaign can work to benefit each company, boosting engagement with Hinge while driving orders for Uber Eats and Chipotle. Giving customers a chance to win dating advice from Wilson may incentivize people to order from the limited-time menu, while raising awareness for Hinge's brand.

All three companies aim for a similar demographic and have felt pandemic-related effects in various ways. Hinge reversed a decline in downloads with an 82% jump in activity during the first nine months of 2020 as people turned to online dating. The introduction of two features — "Dating from Home" and a "Date Ready" live video feed — helped to increase average revenue per user (ARPU) growth to 100% in Q3 from a year earlier, compared with a 63% gain in the prior quarter. The combined ARPU and subscriber growth led Hinge to more than triple its revenue in Q3, parent company Match said.

While Uber experienced a steep decline in ride-sharing requests during the onset of the health crisis, its food delivery service experienced a surge in activity as homebound consumers ordered more frequently. Uber is showing signs of recovery despite the 53% plunge in ride-hailing revenue to $1.37 billion in Q3 from a year earlier, an improvement from the 67% drop in the prior quarter. Meanwhile, Uber Eats has gotten stronger with a 125% jump to $1.45 billion in Q3 revenue, compared with the 103% jump in Q2. Combining its marketing efforts with Chipotle and Hinge may help to sustain growth as the winter months approach and fewer people dine at outdoor venues.

As for Chipotle, the quick-service chain has been active with promotions to support its delivery and takeout services even as it reopens dining rooms nationwide. Chipotle's digital sales more than tripled to $776.4 million in Q3 from a year earlier, making up almost half of total sales. Among its recent promotional efforts, Chipotle last month introduced a "Real Foodprint" tracker on its app and website to let diners measure the environmental effect of their orders, and promoted it with a video starring TV personality Bill Nye on TikTok. Before that, the company revamped its yearly "Boorito" promotion for Halloween as an all-digital event with offer codes on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter to receive buy-one, get-one coupons.