• by Erin Everhart , Staff Writer, Today

A couple of years ago, I had dinner with my friend Amy. And there are two things you should know about Amy.

One: Amy loves Bravo. Two: Amy loves food. This woman is a foodie. She knows the best restaurants to go to, the best dishes to order, the best cocktails that pair with the best dishes at the best restaurants. Amy loves a good restaurant.

So we’re catching up, and she casually mentions that she’s going to Chili’s next week. And I stop her. “You’re going to Chili’s?” She looks at me, completely confused about why I’m confused. 

Turns out, they had just launched a new espresso martini, and Amy has seen an ad with Scheana and Katie from Vanderpump Rules. Amy hadn’t been to a Chili’s in probably twenty years, but she’s sees one piece of content and suddenly Chili’s was relevant.

And that’s the thing about relevancy and culture today. It doesn’t always require some massive campaign. Sometimes it just takes the right moment, the right creator and the right piece of content showing up in someone’s feed.

Since then, Chili’s has become one of the most interesting brands on social media. They’ve turned menu items into viral moments. They’ve built a community that’s more passionate about queso than skincare. And they’ve done it by treating social not as a marketing channel, but as culture.

Everyone has been dying to know how they’ve done it, and we’ve got the scoop. This week, we sat down with Director of Social Media Luz Bickert to hear exactly how their creator playbook works.