2013 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

With Ramadan around the corner, Subway needed to increase its sales and volumes. But, a run-of-the-mill sales promotion would just get lost in the clutter of the other pre-Ramadan and Ramadan sales promotions that most fast food brands do. Subway needed to cut-through by increasing its emotional and functional relevance to the month and thereby,increase its sales.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

We were targeting expats. During Ramadan, a sizeable segment of the expat population in the UAE often spend Ramadan – a month of togetherness - away from their families. We wanted to bring them closer together in a social experience leveraging what’s at the core of our product – Inches. Our idea: TOGETHERNESS IS ONLY INCHES AWAY. Given the social potential of Facebook in the UAE, we selected it as the platform to bring the social experience of ‘getting people together with those who are far away’ to life and created 2 very unique and relevant applications.

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

+ Facebook fans doubled during the first half of Ramadan growing from 70,000 to over 140,000, eventually settling near 150,000, crossing the target of 100,000 – an acquisition rate 7 times more than the regional average – a fantastic benchmark. + Subway sales in UAE increased by 9 index points during the campaign period, doubling up with a 100% growth over Ramadan last year, surpassing the objectives by 200%, proving social commerce can be effective in the region, when based on a culturally relevant human insight.

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

The idea and the executions were embedded in the brand values of Subway (goodness, generosity, togetherness), of Ramadan (togetherness, unity, sharing) and the product (Inches!). The WORLD’S FIRST EVER Virtual Ramadan Tables by a brand, activated with a code for every purchase, brought families and friends closer together literally with every inch. The World’s Longest Virtual Subway sandwich where every purchase was accompanied with a 6” inch sandwich donation to a UAE charity – grew with every inch translating into real life sandwiches for the less fortunate at every Iftar (the evening meal when people break their fast).