- Todd Wasserman

Chipotle, the Mexican fast-food chain, has hired its first CMO, a bid to "strengthen the marketing vision" of the chain, according to founder and CEO Steve Ells.

Mark Crumpacker, co-founder of brand consulting firm Sequence, San Francisco, has assumed the title of CMO at the chain. Crumpacker has long-standing ties to Chipotle; he developed the company's original identity system in 1993.

In a statement, Ells said hiring Crumpacker as CMO "allows us to strengthen our marketing vision—which has not kept pace with what we have been doing with food and with people—and will help us establish deeper and more meaningful connections with new and existing customers." Crumpacker said he's been at the CMO role unofficially for a few months and right now is focused on hiring an ad agency. The restaurateur's estimated $6 million creative account is currently in review. DeVito/Verdi, had won the account in January 2008, but split with Chipotle in September citing "creative differences." Crumpacker said the search has been narrowed to three agencies, which he declined to name. The chain plans to announce the winner of the search next week.

Crumpacker said if the winning agency recommends TV, Chipotle may launch its first campaign using that medium. "The big challenge for us has been taking a word-of-mouth brand and helping us continue that even as the brand matures," Crumpacker said. "Now that there are a lot of Chipotles around, people talk about it less."

Crumpacker's hiring wasn't the only executive change at Chipotle. The company also appointed Monty Moran as co-CEO and hired Bill Niman as "sustainable agriculture advisor." Moran was previously Chipotle's president and COO. Niman is the founder of Niman Ranch, which has provided pork to Chipotle since 2001. In addition, the chain is also looking to expand to Europe and is "actively looking for sites" in London, per the release.

In an October conference call with analysts, Ells cited the economic crisis, higher commodity costs and weakening consumer confidence for slowed growth in same-store sales. Still, comp-store sales rose 3.1 percent for the chain's third quarter (ended Sept. 30) on a 4 percent price hike. During the call, Ells acknowledged that the chain had not been wholly successful in getting its marketing message out. Said Ells: "our marketing can go beyond just creating awareness, building a deeper bond and a deeper sense of loyalty with our customers. We also should expect that effective marketing can move beyond creating awareness and entice customers who have heard of us but never tried us and actually, research tells us, there may be a lot of people."