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Male Millennial, Gen-X Opps Update: Subway features athletes in new campaign (Score 62)

Update: In its newest campaign, mcgarrybowen, the campaign features basketball champion Stephen Curry and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles. Sellers should contact soon to secure last-minute ad dollars.

Right now, Subway is largely targeting millennial and Gen-X men via TV, print, OOH, digital and local broadcast. Read more details about its recent spend in the article below.

Agency & martech readers – I still don’t see major signs here of upcoming agency reviews, but you should still keep Subway on your radar for project-based. Carat since 2017.

The article below was originally published on March 11:

At the beginning of the year, Subway promoted Carrie Walsh to global CMO. Walsh joined the company in 2019 as NA CMO; if the company replaces her with a new NA CMO, we will see significant strategy shifts. Keep Subway on your radar, readers.

The company also recently added three new subs and several new ingredients to its menu. As you can tell by the video above, new work has already debuted in English and Spanish to promote the Mozza Meat, the Supreme Meats and the Benissimo sandwiches, so sellers should contact soon to secure last-minute ad dollars. 

Per iSpot, Subway has spent approximately $50.6m on national TV commercials YTD, 25% more than the approximately $40.5m it spent within the same 2021 timeframe. The sub shop chain spent approximately $254.8m on this channel last year, 45% more than the approximately $175.7m it spent in 2020. Subway's 2022 commercials have targeted male sports enthusiasts watching shows such as NFL Football, College Football, NBA Basketball, Friends and The Big Bang Theory.

So far this year, Pathmatics shows the brand has allocated roughly $2.4m toward digital ads, down 38% from the roughly $3.9m it had allocated by this point last year. In 2021, Subway's estimated full-year 2020 spend grew 4% to $27.6m from that of $26.6m in 2020. It has earned ~266.5m digital impressions YTD via Facebook (51%), Instagram (22%), desktop video (19%), Twitter (5%), desktop display (2%) and mobile display (1%) ads.

As you can tell by its TV ad targeting, Subway's target demographic consists primarily of men. The fact that TV spend is rising while digital spend falls leads me to believe it's primarily targeting millennials and Gen-X. According to Kantar data, Subway also invests in print, OOH and local broadcast. 

Agency & martech readers - This company doesn't currently show major signs that it'll conduct agency reviews anytime soon, but keep it on your radar for project-based work. Carat (2017).