Subway was fighting a battle against bigger, newer, hipper QSRs. Against this competitive backdrop, the QSR category uses every leverage point to create excitement and reasons to visit.

In 2017, Subway wanted to create one day of the year they had the right to own. They wanted an idea that was global, would create social buzz and be scalable and flexible across different markets. And we had to give people a reason to engage with the brand on that day – to want a sandwich and make sure that only a Subway sub would do.

Objectives:

1. Increase Sales and Traffic 5% YOY

2. Brand Buzz

Subway partnered with local hunger-relief charities and created a worldwide, one-day-only activation with a giveback promotion at its heart: Subway Live Feed.

The Subway Live Feed took place on World Sandwich Day. We had just one day to activate across 40,000 restaurants in over 60 countries, so creating mass momentum in Australia and New Zealand before Subway’s biggest markets (US and Canada) woke on November 3 was vital.

We leveraged live data to create excitement a sense of immediacy and social buzz. The Live Feed used a live API sourced from point-of-sale devices at Subway restaurants and shared it using dynamic data visualisation so customers could see a live tally of the number of meals we were giving to charity in real time.

Each sub was tracked and the Live Feed digital ticker was displayed in real time in store, on social, via digital and on dynamic outdoor sites in locations close to Subway restaurants, including a billboard at Times Square, to spread news of the activation around the globe.