Why Subway Canada Celebrated Its New Menu with a Globetrotting Adventure
If you’re a lover of delicious food, then undoubtedly, one of the greatest joys available to you is the power to eat diversely. After all, while single cuisines are great, there’s nothing better than being able to truly take in all the good that different cultures have to offer – exploring regional flavours and treating your palate to something magical.
This is especially true for many Canadian people. While the country might not have a reputation for a strong national cuisine (no, beaver tails and poutine don’t count), what it does offer is some of the most diverse ethnic cuisine on the planet. Here, you’ve got a nation comprised of immigrants and their descendants, all of whom bring their heritage - and recipes - to the melting pot. And as such, the appreciation for the food of other cultures is, perhaps, inevitable.
Subway Canada realised it was missing out on a great opportunity to better connect with its audience – especially gen z – a demographic strongly craving culinary exploration. And, to this end, the brand decided to launch its new ‘Globally Inspired’ menu, which features everything from a porchetta-based, cubano-inspired sandwich, to the new ‘Tandoori Twist’ option.
However, a new menu without marketing just wouldn’t be the same. And so, to emphasise the arrival of these new items, the brand once again worked with its partner agency, Dentsu Creative Canada, to make these offerings known. The result? An awesome two-minute odyssey depicting a Subway chef’s global adventure, taking in local flavours and traditions, while inevitably getting into mishaps along the way.
To learn more about just what it took to bring this to life, LBB’s Jordan Won Neufeldt sat down with Dentsu Creative associate creative directors Tyler Copoc and Maryanne Tenaglia, as well as Subway Canada’s head of marketing, Lisa Mazurkewich, for a chat.
LBB> From the top, tell us about the new menu offerings! What made now the right time to do this?
Lisa> The new menu captures inspired flavours of celebrated cuisines from across the globe, from the ‘Cuban Crunch’, which features succulent porchetta, to the herbaceous and zesty chimichurri on the ‘Chimichurri Steak & Cheese’, to a kickin’ ‘Nashville-Style Hot Chicken’, which has the perfect hit of heat (and is my personal fave!). We also have Tandoori-spiced pork in the ‘Tandoori Twist’, savoury capicola and creamy mozzarella in the ‘Little Sicily’ and an all-new ‘Shawarma Chicken Rice Bowl’. We’re thrilled to make these exciting new, worldly flavours accessible to Canadians from coast to coast.
In terms of timing, our research shows Canadians are breaking up with boring. It's evident that people, especially the younger generation, are hungry for culinary adventures. When it comes to food, they want something different than the run-of-the-mill QSR offerings. They crave bold new flavours, and that's exactly what we're giving them with the ‘Globally Inspired’ menu.
LBB> Breaking up with boring is an exciting concept! Can you tell us about the research which drove this campaign?
Lisa> As we do with any new menu build, we invested in research, ideation and plenty of testing. Research integral to this campaign indicated that younger Canadians sought unique and diverse culinary experiences rather than traditional fast food. They are looking for new flavours and experiences in a sea of the same. Subway has always delivered on fresh ideas, and the new menu allows us to extend this commitment to new premium ingredients and sauces for a global taste which is uniquely Subway.
LBB> With that in mind, what was the brief for this campaign?
Tyler & Maryanne> The brief was that the new ‘Globally Inspired’ menu invites you to take a taste adventure. From there, the first thing that came to mind was: ‘this is an awesome brief, and we need to make the most of it’. We weren’t just introducing a new ranch sauce or something – this was a big promise with loads of potential.
LBB> Depicting a Subway chef going on a global adventure is a fun way to advertise new, diverse menu options. What made this the right creative approach?
Tyler & Maryanne> It felt like the right approach because it’s based in truth – Subway’s chef was inspired by flavours from around the world. It’s an amazing narrative to play with. Now, of course we exaggerated and took some creative license to make his adventure as entertaining as possible, but the origin story remains.
Lisa> Specifically, the inspiration started with the incredible work of our culinary team, led by Samara Foisy, director of culinary, and chef John Botelho, who championed the new items you can try today. To tell the story of this new menu, we needed a fresh approach that honoured the cultures that inspired it and the culinary expertise that went into recipe development. And that’s how our John’s journey came to be.
LBB> Featuring locations, cultures and cuisines around the world is no small task. What was the planning process like, and at what point did you know this would be feasible?
Tyler & Maryanne> To be honest, shooting in Cape Town made it possible. The variety of locations and textures allowed us to create the locations we needed, within an hour of the city in any direction. The production team was world-class and created everything to tell our story in such thoughtful detail. It was truly amazing. Not to mention the cooperative weather (we shot in March) helped a lot too.
LBB> What was the writing process like? How did you strike a balance between funny events like being chased by an ostrich, and paying homage to the cultures of other countries?
Tyler & Maryanne> The balance was simple – keep it entertaining. Whether you make people laugh at the chef being chased by a large bird, or you make them smile when he engages with other people and cultures, entertain so you can land the message.
LBB> Who directed this campaign, and what made them the perfect person to bring this spot to life?
Tyler & Maryanne> Mark Zibert and his team at Scout’s Honour were amazing to work with. His work over the years speaks for itself in so many ways, but he’s also just a great guy. His passion was palpable from his pitch-perfect treatment to the team he assembled in Cape Town, and all the way through to the very end of production.
However, truly, every production partner who touched this brought their A game. We are so thankful for their efforts and to have worked with them.
LBB> What was casting like? Was there an element of just interacting with the locals and seeing what happened?
Tyler & Maryanne> Casting wasn’t that different from any other job, although we found our chef character in a surprising way. He ended up being played by the casting director from Cape Town. He had the look and vibe, and it turns out he was perfect. We really wanted to play up the ‘fish out of water’ vibe with our character, and he naturally brought it to life so well.
LBB> Do you have any anecdotes from on set and your travels? As a whole, how did everything go?
Tyler & Maryanne> It was an amazing experience. A few people dropped for a couple of days due to travel illness, but they bounced back quickly. In fact, considering the scope and complexity, it might have been one of the smoothest productions ever. Mark Zibert was brimming with creative ideas, our Subway clients were so trusting and on board from the word ‘GO’, and truly, everyone involved was all in with the spirit of ‘let’s make this great!’.
LBB> The accompanying music also sets the tone perfectly. Who did you work with on this aspect, and how did you settle on the soundtrack you did?
Tyler & Maryanne> The song is ‘Il geghegè’ by Rita Pavone circa 1966. It’s a banger. Steve Puhach (editor extraordinaire at Nimiopere) found it when he was cutting a mood film for this project. Our friends at Grayson Music Group explored different directions that we sent them in… but at the end of day, it was just too hard to walk away from this track. It simply felt like the perfect encapsulation of the carefully crafted personality of the spot and, most importantly, with a globally inspired flair.
LBB> What challenges have you faced during this project? And how did you overcome them?
Tyler & Maryanne> We’re not kidding when we say this was a very smooth project and production. The challenges were self-imposed… as in, how do we make this bigger and better each step of the way?
Lisa> We realised early on that this campaign needed to feel different; we needed to move out of our restaurants and away from our athlete partners while ensuring we maintained Subway branding and the ‘Eat Fresh. Feel Good’ energy that is inherent to our brand.
LBB> What lessons have you learned from the making of this campaign?
Tyler & Maryanne> We didn’t learn this on this job, but it did reinforce it more than ever before: it’s easy to have fun and make great work when you surround yourself with amazing partners and craftspeople.
Lisa> The power of talent, passion, and trust. This was such a special team – the Dentsu Creative and production team, Scouts Honour, and the incredible cast and crew. We invested the time up front to align on the vision, which made the actual production incredibly efficient and compelling.
LBB> Since launch, how have people reacted to this campaign?
Tyler & Maryanne> Reaction has been very positive. That always feels good after working on something for so long.
Lisa> We have received very positive feedback on this campaign – internally, from franchisees, and best of all, from consumers. It differs from Subway's traditional marketing, delivering a truly epic cinematic masterpiece, with the one-minute cut-down, appearing on big screen cinemas nationwide. We aim for this ad to become as iconic as the destinations that inspired it, establishing Subway as synonymous with exploration and taste adventures in the eyes of Canadians. We have also received love for the menu, with many guests naming the Globally Inspired subs as their new favourites.
LBB> How did this campaign fit into Subway’s plans for 2024 and beyond?
Lisa> The new Globally Inspired menu is an extension of our Subway Series menu – one of the most ambitious undertakings in company history – and ladders back to our philosophy of freshness that feels good. We’ll always offer our Build Your Own options, but adding the collection of chef-crafted sandwiches, which can be ordered by name or number, not only takes the guesswork out of ordering, but challenges the perception of how great Subway can taste.
LBB> Finally, is there a shot in this campaign you’re particularly proud of?
Tyler & Maryanne> It’s way too hard to pin down one shot. There are so many memorable scenes… but there is something about the shot of the aeroplane as it's flying over the mountains that makes us smile.
Lisa> I think it would have to be the ostrich chase!
