New campaign
inspires memes
while celebrating
lively experience
and promoting
one-tap delivery
convenience
Chicago’s O’Keefe Reinhard & Paul (OKRP) joined a partnership of agencies to give deeper meaning to the popular catchphrase, “Hi, Welcome to Chili’s.”
The result is a fully integrated campaign that demonstrates how every home can become a Chili’s restaurant. Highlighting a new moniker that describes the restaurant’s convenient delivery experience — ChilEASE — it showcases the one-tap ease and pleasure of ordering with the Chili’s app.
In new 15- and 30-second spots, consumers bring the Chili’s experience into their homes and greet visitors with exclamations like, “Welcome to Lindsay’s” and “Welcome to Gigi’s.”
CHILI’S
HI, WELCOME TO CHILI’S
“The line, ‘Hi, Welcome to Chili’s,’ has become a cultural meme, and one that we totally own, so it made sense to leverage it in the advertising in a way that makes it even more personal to our customers,” explained Amy Rogers, Group Creative Director at OKRP. “This new campaign also allows us to amplify the ‘together we Chili’s’ overarching brand platform, which speaks to the ways that Chili’s brings people together through its food and the dining experience.”
Online enthusiasm has inspired hilarious social media posts.
CHILI’S
HI, WELCOME TO MITCH’S
Delivering the fun and the grub
The 360 effort includes loyalty and reward activations, partnerships with popular TV shows like Jersey Shore, a sweepstakes that will make households across America Chili’s all the way through, and one guests’ home becoming entirely “Chili-fied.” It also utilizes a Chili’s welcome mat emblazoned with a customer’s name to accentuate how their home can be an extension of the restaurant.
“At the end of the day, what we’re after is making sure the Chili’s experience is fun,” says Ellie Doty, Chili’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “But getting the kids in the car to get to Chili’s can be a beat down sometimes, so we made it even easier because, frankly, anywhere can be a Chili’s; we can easily get the grub to you.”
The full integrated campaign was created in partnership with OKRP (creative and social), 360i (media), Access(PR), Johnson & Sekin (in-store/merchandising), Ansira (CRM/email) and Credera (website). The full campaign elements will roll out beginning in October and run through December 2019.
About Chili’s Grill & Bar
Chili’s is a leader in the casual dining industry and the flagship brand of Dallas-based Brinker International, Inc. Known for big mouth burgers, Texas-sized ribs, full-on sizzling fajitas, and hand-shaken margaritas, they take food seriously and make dining out feel like a celebration. Their ChiliHeads make it their job to spread #ChilisLove across our more than 1,600 restaurants in 29 countries and two territories. The restaurant also hosts local Give Back Events to support kids, education and hunger, and has raised more than $70 million through its annual Create-A-Pepper campaign benefitting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. To learn more about Chili’s, visit www.chilis.com.
Send your campaign updates to Reel Chicago Editor Dan Patton, dan@reelchicago.com.
