Dive Brief:
- Subway will add a $6.99 value meal deal starting Nov. 3 that will last until the end of the year. Customers get a six-inch sandwich, a bag of chips or two cookies, and a small fountain drink.
- The deal applies to all the brand’s “chef curated” sandwiches as well as custom sandwich builds. Customers can receive this discount by using the promo code 699Meal on the Subway app and website or visiting a Subway location.
- Long lasting but temporary discounts have emerged as a key way for brands looking to manage consumer price elasticity this year, with KFC, McDonald’s and Burger King all resorting to medium-duration value deals. This is the second time this year Subway has offered a discounted meal.
Dive Insight:
Subway has, for the most part, refrained from aggressive value promotions this year. The major exception was a $6.99 deal on its Footlong sandwiches that lasted about two weeks in August and September.
Instead, the brand has looked to menu innovation to drive sales. In July, Subway added three new subs. A month prior, the brand added footlong dippers, which are savory snacks priced at $3, to its Sidekick menu. The Sidekick menu debuted in January, with footlong churros, cookies and pretzels comprising its initial lineup.
Doug Fry, president of Subway North America, said that including all the six-inch subs in the deal is a way to give customers a meaningful value deal without compromising on the personalization of orders. Other QSR value meals have generally been limited to a small portion of a brand’s items. McDonald’s $5 Meal Deal offers a choice between a McChicken and a McDouble along with a small fries and a small drink, for example.
Subway pegged the start of the discount to “National Sandwich Day.” By reviving the $6.99 deal for several weeks at the year’s end, Subway may be able to strengthen its Q4 sales. The E. coli outbreak linked to onions on McDonald’s Quarter Pounders has led some brands — KFC, Pizza Hut and Burger King — to suspend serving onions in some stores. Troubles related to the outbreaks at other QSR brands may leave an opportunity for Subway to take some share of consumer dollars as the holiday season gains momentum.
