The Campaign

Subway believes no-one should ever go hungry, so we created a movement to fight world hunger and launched the first ever World Sandwich Day on November 3, 2017. We partnered with charities and for every Sub sold, we donated a free meal. But with only one day to activate, creating immediate momentum around the world was vital.    Using a live API, we scraped data from point-of-sale devices at Subway restaurants, and used dynamic data visualization to display a live tally of the number of meals we were donating. The Subway Live Feed digital ticker was displayed in real time in store, on social, via digital and on dynamic OOH.    Visualizing the live data created a Mexican wave of conscious consumption. In just one day, in more than 40,000 restaurants, in over 60 countries, we increased sales up to 173% and gave away 13.3 million free meals to people in need.

Creative Execution

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.

Results

Subway Live Feed spoke to the hearts and wallets of millions. We well exceeded our goal of 5% increase in sales and traffic YOY. Subway Live Feed drove: • 30% traffic increase YOY • 25% sales increase YOY • 95% increase in subs sold YOY • 50% increase in profit YOY In just one day, sales massively increased on every continent: Argentina by 131%, India 173%, Estonia 82% to name a few. But most importantly, we made a difference in the fight against hunger, donating over 13 million meals worldwide. News outlets and influencers picked up the campaign, celebrating Subway as a brand ‘fighting hunger’ and encouraging people to do their part. Social buzz about the brand was the highest on World Sandwich Day than any other day as people took to our owned social channels to express excitement and post themselves participating in the Live Feed.

Subway wanted a day they could own, so we created the first ever World Sandwich Day. But how could we drive consumers in store to engage with the brand, in a way that was meaningful – and at scale? We created a worldwide, one-day-only activation: Subway Live Feed. To inspire participation we scraped live data from Subway's point-of-sale devices and displayed it via real-time data visualisation on social, in-store, online and dynamic OOH to display the number of meals donated with a call-to-action to incite immediate response – Buy a Sub today and we'll give a free meal to charity.

We set out to attract sandwich-lovers across the world and needed something that would appeal to the masses. While a promotion was the obvious mechanic, we wanted to galvanise passion for the brand with a giveback at its heart. Three observations inspired our solution: • Conscious consumption is on the rise and brands are expected to live their purpose • Clictivism – the use of digital media to activate and support social change – is mainstream • Good food is needed by everyone, but is not always within reach Our strategy was set - turn World Sandwich Day into a sales driving machine by giving Subway customers a win-win opportunity to join the fight against hunger – just by buying a sandwich. This led our key insight: Get good to do good is a win-win. We partnered with local charities and for every Sub sold, we donated a free meal.