Subway
Case Study
Subway partnered with News Australia to launch ‘SUBHOURS’, a campaign built around audience intelligence, data-driven targeting, and bespoke creative.
The Challenge
In the competitive quick service restaurant (QSR) industry, Subway sought to capture the lunchtime rush and build long-term brand loyalty. With the goal of owning lunchtime, Subway needed to stand out during the most crave-worthy hours of the day and turn meaningful engagement into outcomes.
The Method
News Australia’s deep understanding of its audience enabled Subway to engage consumers with relevant, personalised and timely messages at moments of high receptivity. Using Intent Connect’s Content Connect, Subway gathered insights into consumer behaviour during the hunger-trigger window, leveraged self-optimising segments and developed bespoke audience segments from Mastercard and Azira for precise and effective targeting.
Dynamic creative and high-impact formats like the bespoke Subscroller and the Portal Truskins embodied Subway’s focus on size and value in immersive, unmissable ways. Additionally, a 4-part editorial series on news.com.au further elevated the campaign’s contextual alignment, connecting Subway with cultural moments like World Sandwich Day and embedding the brand in trusted, relatable content. Delivered in premium news environments enabled longer dwell times and allowed Subway to fully maximise creative impact, reinforcing quality and value to engaged audiences.
The Result
In just three months, the ‘SUBHOURS’ campaign delivered impressive performance across brand, action, and transaction metrics, surpassing benchmarks and proving its effectiveness in turning real engagement into real outcomes.
Engaging Audiences
Campaign activities drove significant engagement across all formats, indicating strong resonance with target audiences.
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Editorial articles achieved an average page duration of 5 minutes and 22 seconds – more than double the benchmark for editorial content
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Above Benchmark Ad Format Performance
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Portal: Subway CTR = 0.37%, vs. benchmark of 0.17%
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Subscroller: Subway CTR = 0.58%, vs. benchmark of 0.17%
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Truskin: Subway CTR = 0.38%, vs. benchmark of 0.17%
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ScrollX: Subway CTR = 0.29%, vs. benchmark of 0.28%
Influencing Action
& Foot Traffic
The campaign significantly influenced action, with a remarkable uplift in footfall and visitation.
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50% lift in in-store visits, far exceeding the QSR benchmark of 27-32%
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138,562 total exposed visits vs. 68,480 total control visits
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13,628 total incremental visits
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6.65% average exposed visitor rate
Driving Transaction & Sales
The campaign’s success also extended to driving new customers and transactions:
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Since launch, Subway has experienced a 3% sales uplift correlated with the campaign
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150,000+ returning customers, demonstrating strong retention and the long-term impact of the campaign
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