When MLS and Chipotle announced their sponsorship deal earlier this month, it was hard not to think about what endless, free burritos might do to the players. Was “Fat Ronaldo” of Brazil destined to be followed by “Fat Donovan” or “Fat Omar” of the United States?
However, once you get past the disconnect between a 1200-calorie blimp of deliciousness and finely-tuned athletes, the deal starts to make a lot more sense.
A “Counter” Attack
Chipotle is taking advantage of an opportunity to test the waters with a significant sports marketing deal, without losing any of its status as an “alternative” brand compared to mainstream fast food choices. From MLS’ perspective, Chipotle doesn’t play in the same arena as some of its other official sponsors – the Pepsis, Budweisers, and Visas of the sports marketing world – but it offers a chance to tap into a different target audience than those blockbuster brands.
On the other side, Chipotle is walking a fine line as it grows, trying to maintain its credibility as an outsider to the fast food category even as it has more than 1500 stores. Signing a sponsorship deal with one of the “big three” sports would be another step towards “McDonaldsization”– something the brand has probably been trying to avoid since McDonald’s stopped being their biggest investor.
Instead, Chipotle gets to align itself with a sports league with a similar sense of purpose. Both brands seek to provide Americans with an alternative choice to mainstream brands. Both provide a “made in America” version of international culture. And both try to “do the right thing” in terms of giving consumers a choice they can feel good about supporting by offering food and sport with integrity, respectively.
Where this deal really works (besides with free burritos for fans in MLS cities) is at the grassroots level, where Chipotle gets to align itself with the soccer community in key MLS markets. The Chipotle Youth Homegrown Athlete program and free soccer clinics will reinforce Chipotle’s efforts to position itself as a global business that operates locally and to recruit a new generation of carnitas fans while the MLS gets additional help developing the homegrown talent the league needs for long term success.
The one element of the program that seems to be of questionable value is the Chipotle MLS Homegrown Game. While the MLS’s “our guys versus the world” approach to the all-star concept is one of the most interesting in all of sports (with an emphasis on “concept,” as the game hasn’t really shown how the MLS stacks up with clubs around the world), the “non-all-star all-star game” idea is only for the most obsessive of fans. Has it ever worked? When was the last time you watched the MLB Futures Game (U.S. scores fourth straight win over the world!)? Or the NBA’s Rising Stars game (here’s video evidence that two Plumlees were involved this year!)? I’m not sure that platform helps elevate Chipotle as a brand or really helps the MLS’ develop homegrown talent – I doubt some kid will grow up motivated by his dream of being in the Homegrown game.
Whatever your opinion on the Homegrown game or the rest of the deal, the investing community sure seems to like it (the stock hit an all-time high soon after the announcement) and it gives us something to think about besides the impending guacamole crisis (Nooooooo!) of 2014.
