Tag: Subway

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Fast food chain Subway in Malaysia has unveiled its first-ever localised wrapper design for its sandwiches as commemoration of Merdeka or Malaysia Day, which will be held on August 31 this year. The wrapper is designed by Malaysian comic artist Ernest Ng.

Guests will be seeing the Malaysian-themed wrapper at Subway Restaurants nationwide throughout the months of August and September 2022. Right off the back of the recent Subway Mini World Exhibition, this collaboration is yet another effort to connect with local consumers in Malaysia.

The bespoke wrapper features comic interpretations of Malaysian landmarks, including the Petronas Twin Towers, and pays homage to other local icons such the Greenback Turtle and the Rafflesia flower. Subway Malaysia’s beloved local mascot Sabweh is also featured on the wrapper, rounding off the localised design to delight guests and Subway fans alike. 

Hang Ee Laine, head of marketing for Subway in South East Asia, Hong Kong and Macau, said, “At Subway, we’re always looking for new ways to give our guests new and memorable experiences that go beyond our menu offerings. With this bespoke wrapper, we’re celebrating Malaysia’s heritage, culture and local talent.” 

She added, “Malaysia has always been an important market and we’ve witnessed great success with localised offerings, so we’re excited to add something ‘fresh’ to the guest experience during these months of celebration for Malaysia.”

Meanwhile, Archana Menon, country manager for Malaysia at Mutant Communications, commented, “It’s a privilege for us to be working with a globally loved brand like Subway, and we have really taken their quest for guest innovation to heart. Globally, Subway has never had a localised wrapper, but given the feedback from local guests, we believe this will resonate with guests in Malaysia.” 

She added, “It has been great working with the Subway team because they are so supportive of our efforts and are always willing to try something new and push the boundaries of partnerships and collaborations.”

KualaLumpur, Malaysia — Subway Malaysia is celebrating family and togetherness this Ramadan with the launch of its 1-foot closer or ‘Satu Kaki Lebih Mesra’ campaign.

Conceptualised and executed by VMLY&R Commerce, the brand’s lead creative agency, Subway highlights the importance of sharing and kindness in the community, in a series of heartwarming videos, featuring people from different walks of life. One video features conflicts and dynamics in the workplace that can be overcome with patience.

Meanwhile, another set of short films showcases families and couples practising forgiveness, in time for a peaceful and fulfilling Ramadan.

In this video, a couple overcomes their differences and chooses love and forgiveness; a branching theme in the campaign.

Samad Mohd Shariff, country director for Subway SouthEast Asia said that their mission is simple—they want to bring family and friends together this Ramadan and now with the lifting of the restrictions, Shariff said they can.

“Ramadan is a season of celebration, family, and togetherness. We are excited to amplify this message through the Satu Kaki Lebih Mesra campaign in the local community, and through our seasonal value offerings, which are perfect for sharing, caring and spending time with our loved ones,” Shariff said.

On the project, Phoecus Lee, executive creative director of VMLY&R Commerce, shared, “We believe that creating great work requires brave clients, and we’re truly blessed to have supported clients who give us the trust to execute bold campaigns. We collaborated closely with Subway every step of the way and was able to further humanize the campaign with more relatable elements that spoke to Malaysians. More than just a meal, Subway to us, is a brand experience that brings people together this Ramadan.”

Hang Ee Laine, head of marketing of Subway Southeast Asia, commented, “The partnership with local Malaysian artist Ernest Ng this year is a key milestone for us in our efforts to bring Subway closer to Malaysians, just in time for us to celebrate this Ramadan with our Malaysian community.”

With Satu Kaki Lebih Mesra, Subway Malaysia also introduced to the world their new mascot: the lovable, relatable Sabweh character. A beautiful brainchild of social media art sensation Ernest Ng, known for his ‘Don’t like that la bro’ comic series, Sabweh has made his debut across Malaysia, on limited-edition Raya packets, available for guests to redeem in-restaurant with any purchase.

In conjunction with this campaign, Subway restaurants in Malaysia introduced seasonal offerings for the whole family, including the Italian B.M.T., Roast Chicken, Steak & Cheese, and more at only RM19.00 for a footlong, starting from April 12 2022.

Malaysia – Come September, the Subway brand in Southeast Asia surprised audiences with a unique take on its marketing campaign – that is, a promotional messaging that targets marketing itself: “More meat, less marketing.”

The campaign was launched in the region-bound countries such as Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, and in Malaysia, the campaign has gained impressive traction within the first month since its launch.

VaynerMedia APAC, the creative brains behind the campaign, shared to MARKETECH APAC, that from the campaign’s release until November to date, digital posts have reached a 7% average engagement rate.

The star of the campaign – Subway’s new Meat Stack – is its sub, packed with chicken strips, tender chicken slices, pepperoni, smokey salami, and fresh veggies. The campaign’s aim is to drive home the message that in order to give the best-valued fresh sub, Subway spent all its budget on cooking up the new item with very little left for marketing.

Much like the long-running joke of “honest movie titles,” and “honest advertisements,” the campaign pokes at the elephant in the room in the business of marketing, where some brands prefer to build on glamorous branding rather than improve the product itself. 

Subway’s “More meat, less marketing” campaign is a 360 marketing initiative. Digital banners and videos have been rolled out on the different markets’ Subway social media channels. On Subway Malaysia’s Facebook page, banners bearing the hashtags #NoBudgetForMarketing #InsertHashtagHere #NoMoneyForHashtag #NoBudgetForTVC are being posted regularly. 

In an October 12 post, Subway Malaysia published a video with the description, “Meat lovers, rejoice! Marketing folks – look away! ‘Cos we’ve spent all our marketing budget stuffing more meat into our all-new Meat Stack.” The video shows a “behind the scenes” editing of the Meat Stack banner, being created in elementary “PowerPoint’” style. 

Meanwhile, another quirky Facebook post shows an image of the new sub with the copy, “You Win Some (meat), You Lose Some (advertising).”

Another post was also published, similarly shining on the battle between good product and good advertising, with a GIF showing a scoreboard, where the new sub gains a point vs no points for marketing. 

VaynerMedia shared that as of current, the campaign has garnered 310k impressions in Malaysia, with a total of 9k engagement of comments, shares, and reactions. Reshares have also amounted to 695.

Of the concept, VaynerMedia APAC’s Executive Creative Director VJ Anand said, “In the marketing industry, we often joke about creating ads using Microsoft Word, PowerPoint or MS Paint. We took these jokes and made it a reality because it was a fun approach which made sense with a product like the value-for-money Meat Stack. Add to that the current realities of our industry which has been facing year-long budget cuts, and you have a marketing campaign that’s real, relevant, and talkable.”

A number of Malaysians expressed their appreciation for the marketing move, with one commenting on Facebook, “I love this [idea], more for customer, less for advertiser.”

Another also wrote, “So far, Subway has been the only one calling out what it is. Liking the self-depreciation campaign you’re doing,” alongside enthusiastic emojis of a thumbs-up, and clapping hands. 

Aside from socials, the campaign also takes form in point-of-purchase materials and out-of-home bus ads, particularly in Singapore. In the Lion city, the messaging was adapted in the form of half designed ads, with the catchy copy “[Subway] could only afford half an ad.”

VaynerMedia said the campaign is set to run until early January 2021. 

Hang Ee Laine, Subway’s head of marketing for Southeast Asia said, “We are excited to connect with our guests through a fresh, fun, and light-hearted campaign. We created a delicious sub, and wanted to tell a story in a way that would make people smile.”