CASE STUDY: How Subway built its brand in Korea

Aim
G2 started work with Subway at a time when initial steps were being taken towards rapid expansion of the store base. The aim was to introduce Subway into the Korean market as a fresh meal offer and to differentiate the fast food chain from its competitors. Subway’s customer base comprises of college students and young office workers and therefore, the campaign leveraged on targeted platforms to appeal to this discerning audience.

Execution
An important aspect of building up the momentum for Subway in Korea was the three month communications campaign, which G2 Korea rolled out from August to October 2010. The campaign titled ‘Sub of the day 3,500 won’ was Subway's first ever campaign in the market and combined print and bus advertising, online activities and point-of-sale communications from uniforms to posters and banners. Online activities included banner advertising, search marketing and word-of-mouth communications on platforms like blogs and online communications. The campaign communicated that Subway is a healthier and affordable meal choice made of fresh ingredients, in addition to highlighting the varieties of sandwiches available in Subway restaurants. A unified communications strategy was adopted across all communications platform to ensure consistency in messaging.

Results
The three-month long campaign achieved a 20 per cent increase in sales for Seoul. During the campaign phase, Subway Korea’s website achieved more than 5,000 hits a day from consumers who wanted to find out more about the restaurant and the sandwiches offered. Subway’s franchise seminar for potential franchisees witnessed a ten-fold increase in the number of participants attending per session during and post-campaign phases. 

Based on the success of this campaign, G2 Korea continues to build on brand awareness through additional campaigns, with greater emphasis on increasing footfalls to Subway restaurants.