Mr. Sub

Mr. Sub suffered from lagging quality perceptions – stale bread, limited toppings and poor selection – that had nothing to do with reality. And as a small Canadian player in the quick-service sandwich category, its media budget was consistently dwarfed by large competitors like Subway. So how to dispel product misconceptions while getting noticed on a limited budget?

An audit of youth culture suggested that the young male target was tired of high-gloss advertising from large, sterile multinational corporations. They identified with brands that were raw, real and courageous.

In-store interviews, designed to better understand why some people already liked Mr. Sub, found that the same qualities were in fact embedded in the brand. Mr. Sub’s less-than-glossy image was a large part of the reason why some people preferred it to the competition.

A targeted television campaign was designed to tackle quality issues head on. Three spots were created – “Granny,” “Nurse” and “Missionaries” – depicting good people doing bad things for a Mr. Sub sandwich. The tongue-in-cheek approach tapped into Mr. Sub’s brand DNA while delivering the necessary facts.

Business results far exceeded expectations, with comparable store sales up significantly since the launch of the campaign.