Chipotle shares the love.

We barely got in the door. The last people in line because we jimmied our way in as someone was exiting. Hey, it was 9:59.
As we inch our way toward the front, we have time to breathe in the smell if grilled peppers, fajita meat and corn tortilla chips. I declare my love for Chipotle. I can't believe that there for a few months I got drawn into claiming Freeb!rds as my favorite. Chipotle surely felt betrayed, but has welcomed me back with open arms, no hard feelings.
The line was out the door because Chipotle (nationwide) spent the day giving away free burritos to anyone who brought in a canned food donation. They do this kind of thing all the time. And the brilliant thing is that their marketing is largely done by the general public - word of mouth! Know how we found out about the canned food donation give-away? Someone at our university started a facebook event this afternoon alerting all friends of this free delicious dish.

We could really learn a lot from Chipotle. For one, their website is amazing - it's creative and clever; a whimsical journey of pure goodness. Second, they advertise in unique and fresh ways. They have somehow mastered the art of creating a buzz, so that they have to do very little advertising - - we do it all for them! Campus ministers, let's figure out a way to do that! If any of you have tapped into buzz marketing in any successful way - please share! And finally, "free stuff". We have heard the manager at our local store say multiple times humbly, "It's free food. People always come out for free food." It is so fun to give away free stuff! And with just a little effort, you can often get your free stuff for FREE! Should we bribe people into the Kingdom? Absolutely.