Branding is the Big Picture

If you haven’t spent some time on the Chipotle website lately, I recommend it. Click around and take a look at how Chipotle is standing out and making a statement.

Touting “Food with Integrity,” Chipotle’s website shows off their commitment to finding the very best ingredients raised with respect for the animals, the environment and the farmers. As they say: “It’s not just a burrito. It’s a foil-wrapped, hand-crafted, local farm supporting, food culture changing cylinder of deliciousness.”

As you may have recognized, Chipotle is by no means the first or only company to build a marketing campaign around fresh ingredients. It’s actually a very popular route to take these days. After all, Burger King has recently dethroned its “king” character to give it menu more fresh, healthy options.

Now visit the Burger King website.

Who do you believe?

Looking at both, it’s pretty easy to see that Chipotle’s fresh ingredients campaign is about telling the story of their brand. Their website, processes, and marketing all point to the same truth: Food with integrity is who they are.

Burger King, despite getting some good news coverage about their “healthier fast food initiatives,” still looks like the same company I’ve always known. Even after some deliberate digging on their website to see how their food is fresher and healthier, I’m still at a loss.

The point here is threefold: Your brand matters. A solid brand is about consistency. And people need to believe you.

Burger King can launch advertising campaigns all day long claiming a brand new perspective and direction, but until they back it with their entire brand, I don’t believe them. And my guess is neither do you.

Branding isn’t about a website. It isn’t about a commercial. It isn’t about a mascot. And it isn’t about a blog, Twitter, or Facebook account. Branding is about all of it together. Changing one doesn’t change anything.

Chipotle has a brand. Burger King has a campaign. Success is in the difference.