Subway

THE BRIEF

Subway, one of the world’s largest quick-service restaurant brands, launched a groundbreaking marketing campaign in the GCC to introduce its delectable SubMelts, a mouth-watering line-up of pre-made hot subs oozing extra cheese.

In a first for the brand, these SubMelts changed a decades-old narrative around “build-your-own” sandwiches and propelled the brand into a new category, appealing to a younger demographic.

Unravelling the enigma of youth culture, Atteline effectively partnered with Subway Arabia by evoking the power of cutting-edge A.I. technology, a key talking point in the GCC media landscape with immense consumer interest in the topic, that holds a strong appeal to “Generation Next”, harnessing their values, stirring emotions, and preferences to shape an extraordinary communications strategy.

Atteline led the communications outreach for this campaign by crafting a captivating narrative that showcased the SubMelts’ grand debut and ignited a fervour of excitement surrounding the innovative AI tech campaign.

THE DELIVERY

Our PR strategy effectively introduced the Subway SubMelts launch with meticulous planning, ensuring widespread coverage across the UAE, KSA, and Kuwait.

The campaign emphasised three key elements: curiosity, emotions, and tech immersion. Users were taken on a touching trip down memory lane as their personal stories came true with the power of AI.

These emotions were unlocked with the taste of SubMelts transporting them to memories that they were not only able to share but also keep forever in bespoke portraits.

This approach seamlessly transformed the communication landscape by embracing creativity and technology, reaching a new audience group and challenging the norms of traditional communication.

Our efforts focused on leveraging our strong media relationships across consumer, trade, and tech publications. This involved a comprehensive approach, including the dispatch of an announcement press release, targeted media alerts, and insightful interviews and commentary with the designated brand spokesperson.

Additionally, we proactively extended an invitation to select top-tier media titles to personally immerse themselves in the SubMelts experience, offering them an invaluable firsthand encounter.

THE OUTCOME

These are the key milestones that have ensured regional PR success for Subway thus far.

Brand Reputation – Through 100% key message penetration in the news coverage, the brand and products were portrayed in a positive light.

We secured interview opportunities with Zeinab El Amrawy, the Marketing Head for Subway Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, with Campaign Middle East. During the interview, she discussed the overarching campaign and the well-rounded strategy, seamlessly executed across our key channels, delivering a captivating and memorable brand experience for consumers.

Online Consumer Engagement – In just two months, our campaign in the GCC engaged an impressive audience, garnering 1.4 million video views, and a total engagement of 2,280.

Simultaneously, on YouTube, we secured an outstanding 232,505 video views, accumulating 1.8K hours of watch time with an average view duration of 0:29.

These metrics reflect an exceptional level of consumer engagement, solidifying the campaign’s success in capturing the attention of our target audience.

Engaged GCC Media – We achieved a total circulation of over 11.96 million, putting the brand directly in front of its audience/ potential customers across our target markets.

The result was a total advertising equivalent of $ 75,750, and a PR value of $ 227,250 in two months and the first-of-its-kind showcase of the SubMelts backed by cutting-edge A.I. technology.

The brand received exposure across markets, including top-tier online publications and social media coverage.

Positive Reception: We also had wonderful reviews from the media who sampled the SubMelts for lunch and we have included two below:

What’s On (Aarti Saundalkar) – “We are all SUBBED out… (hello food coma, haha). I had to give the mushroom chicken to a colleague cos I was so stuffed – but he said he loved it. The dynamite chicken we all enjoyed. Manaal loved the steak one, and Tamara also said the cheese one was good. So, def an overall good-lookin’ review.”

Hia (Joumana Sabbagh) – “The subs were amazing and saved me the hassle of cooking.”