The year of the footlong
In 2023, I stepped in as Creative Director of Subway across the UK and EMEA. As it happens, this was to be an eventful year for the world-famous purveyor of footlong sandwiches. After 56 years, Subway decided to do something radical – introduce a menu.
Consisting of 15 specially designed sandwich combinations, the new Series Menu was actually a big departure from Subway's previous anything-goes philosophy. However, it's fair to say – the change wasn’t universally welcome. Most Subway die-hards relished the freedom to fill their sandwiches with whatever ingredients their stomachs desired. The last thing they wanted was someone else telling them what they could or couldn't put on their footlong.
So rather than launch with a lot of fanfare, some diplomacy was required. We needed to introduce the Series Menu while also making it abundantly clear that it wouldn't interfere with anyone’s right to create their own sandwich. The menu was just a new and easier option, perfect for those who are happy to leave the sandwich-making to the experts.
Our TV campaign featured clashing personality types, playfully bringing to life the two distinct ordering styles now catered for by Subway.
A Europe-wide OOH campaign followed, which introduced some of the standout creations on the new Series Menu – while also highlighting the added benefits of choosing a bigger, better lunch.
Meanwhile, Subway signed up as the official sponsor of two of TV's biggest reality shows - Love Island and the return of Big Brother. We used this as another opportunity to playfully showcase some new menu items.
Halloween was an opportunity for us to have some fun and test out some new AI tech- while drawing attention to the deliciously melty cheesiness of Subway’s new range of hot-pressed Submelts.
Playing off the well-known phenomenon of cheese dreams, we warned customers about the potential freaky night’s sleep they could experience as a side effect of eating the product after dark.
The films featured a series of real cheese dreams sourced in partnership with influencers and Subway’s social channels. These surreal visions were brought to life via the suitably freaky aesthetic of AI.
The campaign launched in the lead-up to Halloween with a 20% off promotion on Uber Eats, which was only available after dark, daring customers to awaken their own cheese dreams.
We also ran an OOH campaign to remind lunch-goers of the Footlong’s superior size, celebrating the fact that it offers a more satisfying and flavour-packed feed.
Towards the end of 2023, Subway introduced its brand new loyalty programme. Unlike the previous iteration, customers could now earn Subway Cash with every purchase to spend on anything they wanted; a simple and easy message to convey. Almost too simple – but we soon fixed that.
