2013 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

During Q4 2012, Subway Arabia was promoting its new Italian Collection. But, no one knew or had ever heard about “Italian subs”. How could we make this offering interesting and engaging, without going down the oft-trodden track of generic promotions?

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

Instead of a generic promotion for the Italian Collection, we created a FUN, FRESH social media experience: "Order Like An Italian!" - https://www.facebook.com/udaydesai77/app_401095909957629 Users engaged with the Facebook App and recorded themselves using their webcam or microphone - giving their best impression of a Real Italiano ordering one of the tasty Subway sandwiches to win an Italian holiday! To help them, we introduced Rosella Bianci The Third - a Genuine Italian native - Subway’s Italian tutor! Via video, Rosella provided useful tips and tricks to our fans on mannerisms, on the Italian accent and on gestures and answered their questions.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

+ It wasn't long before Rosella was building up her own Facebook following and our fans started submitting their videos to the gallery. Some weren't bad. Others were great! Including our luckywinner! The best videos were posted on our Wall and used in sponsored posts to help spread the fun and awareness. + More awareness for the Italian collection coupled with active sales + 2,000 people interacted with the app + An average viewing time of 5 minutes for the videos + 30% revisited the app + And the app acquired over 30,000 new fans for the Facebook page

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

It is a well-known fact that with the Arabs, the youth in particular, Godfather is one of the most popular and iconic films. And Italy has always had a soft corner in Arab hearts. We saw this as an opportunity to go beyond standard promotions and have some fun with our Subway Arabia social media fans on Facebook – Italian style. We brought them more than just a taste of Italy, but the sounds of Italy too! Subway is all about eating fresh, and it's communication should also be fresh! So, we thought fresh.