Chipotle Burrito-a-Friend
Overview
Chipotle is loved not just for its delicious, wholesome food, but also for its clever digital experiences. The Burrito-A-Friend program was a perfect example. Loyal fans received a text inviting them to send a personalized card—and a buy-one-get-one burrito—to a friend. As a thank-you, they got free chips and salsa in return. Everyone wins. Role: - Experience Design Direction - Content Strategy Awards: - Bronze North America Smarties
Deliverables
Brand Strategy
Messaging Strategy
Experience Design
Interaction Design
For “Burrito-A-Friend,” Chipotle invited fans to spread the love with a personalized digital card sent right from their messaging app. Their friends got a BOGO burrito and a chance to join Chipotle’s mobile community, while the sender scored free chips and salsa. Built-in tracking links gave the team insight into every save and redemption—turning simple sharing into smart engagement.
Challenges
Chipotle wanted to deepen engagement with its most loyal fans while driving new sign-ups for mobile alerts. The challenge was to create a shareable, mobile-first experience that felt personal, rewarding, and on-brand, yet also felt extremely easy to use.
Insight
Higher customer value: Referred customers have a higher lifetime value, are four times more likely to refer others, and have a 37% higher retention rate. They also spend more on average and convert faster.
Strategic Idea/Build
Chipotle fans already had a strong relationship with the brand. The idea was to reward both the sharer and the recipient, while also keeping the experience lightweight, engaging and on-brand.
Design Impact
The foundation of a referral program, coupled with the idea a sharable digital card was the perfect fit for Chipotle to expand it's mobile reach to their fans.
Solution
Chipotle launched the “Burrito-A-Friend” campaign, inviting mobile subscribers to send a personalized digital card—and a BOGO burrito—to a friend through their native messaging app. Each share rewarded the sender with free chips and salsa, creating a simple, feel-good exchange. Built with Vibes, the program seamlessly integrated tracking links and unique coupon codes, giving Chipotle real-time insight into engagement, sharing, and redemption behavior.
Results
The referral program contributed significantly to mobile subscriber growth – 2.4 times higher than the previous year.
