Chipotle Names New Agency Partners for Advertising, Media Services

Venables Bell & Partners Named for Advertising Responsibilities, MullenLowe Mediahub Tapped for Media Planning and Buying

Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) announced that it has selected two new agency partners. Venables Bell & Partners will take on advertising duties, and MullenLowe Mediahub was selected for media planning and buying. The decision comes at the end of a four-month agency review that included consideration of nearly 20 potential agency partners.

“After considering some extremely talented agencies, we decided that retaining two best in class partners to work with us on the advertising and media roles gave us the best combination of talent to help us as we continue to evolve our marketing programs,” said Mark Crumpacker, chief marketing and development officer at Chipotle. “Venables impressed us from the beginning with their insights and ability to translate our strategy into really compelling advertising, while Mediahub demonstrated extraordinary analytic and media targeting capabilities. Working together with our internal marketing team and these new agency partners positions us well to improve the impact of our marketing programs over the coming months.”

Venables Bell is a San Francisco-based agency that has won accolades for its work for client companies such as Audi, REI, and Intel, among others, and was named breakthrough agency of the year in 2016 by AdWeek magazine. Boston-based Mediahub is the global media planning and buying arm of MullenLowe Group, and represents a variety of progressive brands including JetBlue, Netflix, Bose and Shinola, among many others. Mediahub was named 2016 Creative Media Agency of the Year by Mediapost.

“Chipotle and Mediahub share a belief in challenging the status quo to deliver extraordinary results,” said Keith Lusby, executive director at MullenLowe Mediahub. “Chipotle is the ultimate challenger brand, defying category norms about how food is sourced, prepared and served. This is an exciting time to be Chipotle’s partner as they evolve their amazing brand story and success with breakthrough, attention getting media.”

“Chipotle is a brand we have long admired, and we are excited to be working alongside a marketing team which has such a strong and compelling creative pedigree,” said Paul Birks-Hay, president of Venables Bell.

Chipotle will continue its work with GSD&M through the duration of its “Ingredients Reign” campaign. The company also continues to work with a number of other agency partners in such area as design, social media, public relations, and digital and mobile services.

ABOUT CHIPOTLE

Steve Ells, Founder, Chairman and CEO, started Chipotle with the idea that food served fast did not have to be a typical fast food experience. Today, Chipotle continues to offer a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, and salads made from fresh, high-quality raw ingredients, prepared using classic cooking methods and served in an interactive style allowing people to get exactly what they want. Chipotle seeks out extraordinary ingredients that are not only fresh, but that are raised responsibly, with respect for the animals, land, and people who produce them. Chipotle prepares its food using whole, unprocessed ingredients and without the use of added colors, flavors or other additives typically found in fast food. Chipotle opened with a single restaurant in Denver in 1993 and now operates more than 2,200 restaurants. For more information, visit Chipotle.com.

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Chipotle Mexican GrillChris Arnold, [e-mail]