As Subway celebrates the 60th anniversary of its launch globally, its branded ‘#Fanversary’ is taking place in the shadow of a major brand transformation.
The #Fanversary is an Australia-wide search for Subway’s biggest fan who will be rewarded with free Subway for life, worth $25,000.
For Rodica Titeica, Director of Marketing for Subway Australia and New Zealand, the competition is just the start of marketing opportunities for the sandwich chain.
“Subway was the original disruptor by putting the fresh ingredients at the front of everybody. But we’ve openly admitted, and I’ve spoken about it before, that we became a bit complacent and stopped evolving and resting on our laurels for a bit.
“Now, we’re on a really big global transformation, and Australia and New Zealand are at the forefront of that.
“We are continuing to modernise, from making the menu easier, simpler, faster, and the whole end-to-end experience more relevant, and making it part of our personality.”
She shared that the brand’s global direction will see a reinvigoration in the year ahead. The business is now lead by the recently appointed CEO Jonathan Fitzpatrick, who previously held senior roles at Burger King. Subway, now under the control of private equity firm Roark Capital, is fighting competition from other fast-casual restaurants which has seen its market share erode.
Titeica said: “It is all about growth, innovation, and being better than we have been. We’re just getting started.”
Reigniting brand love for Subway with its biggest fan search competition
Subway Australia’s #Fanversary is calling for fans to submit entries that showcase their passion and creativity for the brand – from sub-inspired songs, tattoos, TikTok dances – and shared and uploaded to social media.
“We’ve got a broad audience, and we wanted to show up and meet the fans where they were in ways that felt relevant to them and obviously reflect that diversity of our customer base from young and old,” Titeica said.
Of the entries so far, Titeica highlighted the TikTok entries as the most playful and creative with dance routines, skits, costumes, and storytelling. Instagram has had visual, food-centric entries, while Facebook has had posts with heartfelt stories, photos, and memories.
Titeica shared that the opportunity has allowed them to tap into their fan base reignite their love for the brand.
“The reach in the first couple of days and the shareability have been beyond what I would have expected in a really pleasing way. People are jumping on board, and we have seen some strong entries.
“It makes us feel good, and we can see just love there is for the brand. It’s really nice to see people having fun with it.”
‘We want to use the moment to grow’
Titeica said Subway is proud having 60 years under its belt and putting the customers at the centre of the campaign in Australia celebrates their impact.
“For us, it was about spotlighting those fans, the loyalists, and showing their passion and loyalty and some quirks, as we’ve seen coming through.”
But the campaign is not just about rewarding long-time fans.
She explained that Subway’s 60th birthday is their opportunity to reward and recognise fans, while building salience and strength, and turning passive fans into active, engaged customers.
“We’re definitely looking at reach and engagement to understand how the campaign’s performing in real time and how many people are seeing it, interacting with it, and sharing the Subway stories.
“But we want to use the moment to grow our loyalty base. A key success metric for us for this particular campaign is acquisition – getting more fans into our ecosystem so that we can communicate with them, make it more personalised, and build the connections over time.
“If we can spark some conversations that shift the way people talk or think about Subway, particularly in those younger audiences where I know a lot of legacy brands have challenges with connecting with, then that’s a big win for us.”
Top image: Rodica Titeica