How Subway checkmated multiple choice dilemma with Vishwanathan Anand

Ordering a quick bite at a fast food joint is no longer a simple task, given the plethora of choices available – even for World Chess Champion Vishwanathan Anand. Subway, a multinational fast food restaurant franchise, is well-known for letting customers customise their submarine sandwiches, wraps, salads by choosing the bread, vegetables, dips and toppings. However, choosing from the many options can be as tricky as planning out one’s chess moves, as shown by Vishwanathan Anand in a humorous new campaign by Subway. The campaign aims to revolutionise customer experience by introducing a super simplified ‘Point and Order’ section and introducing eight irresistible and craveable Hotseller subs. The latest ad also showcases the ease of the new ordering process.

Admin paneer sub khaane gaya tha 😅 pic.twitter.com/4BqLUX3LdU

— Viswanathan Anand (@vishy64theking) July 10, 2023

In an interaction with Mayur Hola, CMO, Culinary Brands speaks at length about the brand’s collaboration with Vishwanathan Anand for the new campaign, the core idea behind the campaign, media mix, changing consumer preference, innovative marketing initiatives, and more.

What inspired Subway to partner with World Chess Champion Vishwanathan Anand for its new campaign?

The process of ordering a sub, while relatively simple for some of us, can make some of us hesitate to place their order at Subway. Because we might find it complex to answer a series of questions posed by the Subway sandwich artist, whereas in contrast it is super simple to just point and pick across the QSR universe. So, we decided to make Subway accessible for everyone. Those who know how to go about mixing, matching and making their own sub can continue doing so, whereas those who prefer a simpler point to order method can also now order up a warm, delicious sub, made by Subway. This way everyone gets a great and importantly consistent experience every single time.

To communicate this, we needed the smartest amongst us to illustrate this issue, as we discovered through our chats with folks that this is an issue that anyone might face. Vishy Anand is the genius we all know and love. He’s endearing and is an obvious choice as such. Because if he faces this issue and then figures the solution to be Hotsellers, it tells us all that if it’s good for Vishy to get delicious and straightforward subs by simply pointing and picking, it’s great for us.

What’s the core idea behind Subway’s latest campaign?

The introduction of the ‘Point and Order’ section with eight warm and indulgent Hotsellers is part of Subway’s focus on customer experience. By simplifying the ordering process, Subway eliminates decision-making stress, and we ensure that every customer can enjoy their favourite flavours without hassle and get the same great experience at any and every Subway restaurant.

This showcases Subway’s commitment to enhancing the customer experience and also introduces Subway’s products to the wider masses. With this strategic move, we aim to provide a varied dining experience for existing customers. And make it super easy for new customers to pick a sub and enjoy it.

What is the media mix for this campaign?

We have taken a multi-channel approach for this campaign that enhances the campaign’s visibility, creates multiple opportunities for interaction, and reinforces the core message through consistent messaging across platforms. The comprehensive 360-degree campaign’s media mix strategically deploys multiple channels, including television, out-of-home advertising, print media, and various social media platforms.

Which market do you plan to target with this campaign?

We will focus on the metros as we have a large presence there. This is also a national campaign as Subway is a brand growing across the country. So, we’ll be visible where Subway is today and equally where we will be opening soon.

What changes have you observed in consumer preferences?

We recently saw a post go viral about a young lady who posted a picture of her mum eating a sub with achar (pickle). It told us a couple of things. People like to experiment and yet keep it somewhat familiar. We launched the Paneer Achari and Chicken Tikka Achari subs as part of Hotsellers, having seen this.

The other trend at Subway anyway, is the ‘sub kuchh’ order. When people are avoiding making choices by simply asking us to add everything to the sub. It doesn’t really lead to a great eating experience, to be honest. Our simplified ordering experience solves for that.

It is important for us to stay on top of what folks are doing, read between the lines and finally respond to it. Which is exactly what we are doing with our new menu and ordering process.

Could you share some other innovative marketing initiatives or partnerships that you have implemented to drive brand awareness and consumer loyalty?

One of the Hotsellers, The Crunchy Mexican, has Cornitos nachos within it. It makes for a fun, textural sub. We fondly refer to it as the ‘Party in the mouth’ sub!

Our work on Twitter and Instagram is pretty fun to follow as well. Do check it out.

How do you conduct market research to understand consumer preferences and trends in the culinary industry? How does this research influence your marketing strategies?

We research everything we launch. And do trials at store level. For example, one of the things we learnt from researching the Hotsellers was that India loves Pesto. The Italian Pesto sub was rated the highest by our audience. And so it went into the menu. In addition to this, we had trialled the same menu on 100 stores before we went Live with it across. Both our research and our trials inform every move we make. It’s time well spent to learn, evolve and then launch.