Baja Fresh Campaign Urges, 'Eat Life Up'

Baja Fresh Mexican Grill concentrates on attitude more than food in its first major advertising effort.The steadily growing 13-year-old quick-casual chain, which counts Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill, McDonald's Chipotle and CKE Restaurants' La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill as rivals, turns to a campaign from Smart Bomb to fuel its aggressive expansion plans.Baja Fresh, with 220 restaurants in 18 states, aims to have 550 units by 2005. The campaign launched last week in Phoenix, where 15 restaurants are located. Ads will roll out on a market basis, said Gene Cameron, vp of marketing for the Thousand Oaks, Calif., client.Acquired last year by Wendy's, Baja Fresh targets consumers ages 25-49 who are "more sophisticated, have higher incomes and are better educated" than the typical fast-food consumer, Cameron said.The Marina del Rey, Calif., shop's campaign includes TV and radio spots that introduce the tag, "Eat life up." Three 30-second TV spots, directed by Leslie Dektor of Dektor in Hollywood, Calif., are meant to look like product placement in independent films, said Smart Bomb CEO and creative director Robert Chandler.One spot shows a guy placing an order at Baja Fresh while an attractive woman stands in line behind him. The clerk asks if he would like mild or hot salsa. Realizing his manliness is in question, he picks mild—but also claims to use "plenty" of hot salsa from the salsa bar.Another ad features a woman and a guy discussing a phone number that another woman gave him the previous night. The catch: The numbers are not in the right order, and he needs to unscramble it, as a test. His friend advises that he ought to lay off the veggie enchiladas and eat the steak ones instead. This way, he'll be fortified for the challenge.The third commercial follows a couple entering a Baja Fresh restaurant. The man spots his mother at the counter and, hoping to avoid a scenario in which she shares embarrassing stories of his childhood, suggests they order takeout.By using these "playlets," Baja Fresh hopes to pique the interest of consumers with a more personal experience, said Cameron. "We didn't want to do something grandiose and overdone," he said. "The food speaks for itself."With "fresh" in its name, the chain doesn't need to stress its food in advertising, said Joe Pawluk, a principal at Technomic, a food-service consultancy. "People are more sophisticated about foods, and they know about unique ingredients and authentic cuisines," he said.Technomic lists Baja Fresh as the second-fastest-growing food "concept" in the nation, and Pawluk said interest in fast, healthy Mexican fare is a trend.Cameron would not disclose how much the chain expects to spend. Category spending is relatively low. Chipotle spent less than $1 million on ads last year, per CMR, and no spending was recorded for La Salsa or Rubio's, which is searching for an agency to handle its account.

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Baja Fresh Campaign Urges, 'Eat Life Up'

Rebecca Flass

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