According to the data obtained from the survey, Subway is far from being popular in comparison with the other fast-food brands. Although Subway is on the second place in the U.S. in terms of outlets, it occupies the twelfth place in terms of sales. The survey results show that it is visited almost ten times less than MacDonald’s that occupies a leading position among all fast-food restaurants. The main reason for this, in my opinion, is that Subway uses a traditional approach, whereas its competitors introduce something new, focus on a particular type of customers, and expand abroad. Thus, for example, Blimpie’s main focus is the international development, Quiznos are aimed at attracting families, Togo’s Eatery highlight high-quality ingredients in their menu, Schlotzsky’s adds pizza and salads to its menu, and so on. Subway’s main focus is working class people who want to have a quick lunch.
However, all Subway’s competitors have one thing in common. They all agree that the key factor of success is the quality. They see that customers are willing to pay more if the product is upscale; therefore, they make their menu upscale and add more kinds of food to it. They also diversify their menu by creating different kinds of eating occasions: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. One more important strategy that most of the fast-food restaurants including Subway have started to implement is the value pricing. Other companies decided to avoid price competition by positioning themselves as high-quality fast-food restaurants.
Subway has started to focus on breakfast recently. However, in my opinion, this is not a good strategy, according to the survey, the customers prefer lunch and dinner times more. Also, according to the results, people often visit fast-food restaurants with a spouse, children, alone, or with their friends, whereas Subway’s main focus is workers. Subway excludes a great percentage of customers who like fast-food restaurants. It should focus on a wider range of people. In this respect, introducing kid packs which include food items and a premium gift was a good strategy. Thus, in my opinion, in order to be successful, Subway should introduce an upscale menu, focus on a wider range of people, and make its menu more versatile adding new types of sandwiches and other types of food to it, as quality and versatility are the key to success. Also, the last but far from being the least, Subway should expand abroad and to other continents, as 99% of its outlets are located only in North America. Thus, if we take McDonald’s as an example, expanding abroad is also the key to success.
Although it is impossible to get rid of competitors, no matter in what sphere a company specializes, there are certain strategies that can help reduce the number of Subway’s competitors. In my opinion, when making an advertisement, Subway should highlight the product in which it specializes, that is sandwiches. Then, it is crucial to stress on the high quality of the product and to show some new features of this product, for instance, new filling, new spices, new size, new types of menu, and everything that can convince customers to come exactly to Subway. At the end of the advertisement, it is necessary to mention other types of food like pizza, salads, pasta and so on which are also on the menu.
As for the so-called Marketing Communications Mix, Subway should include four its aspects into its promotion campaign. Thus, in terms of short-term sales promotion, Subway should introduce some discounts that will depend on the type of a day, on the amount and type of products bought and some other factors. In the advertisement, Subway should highlight their product and its unique features. As for the public relations, in my opinion, Subway should organize public events and competitions on different occasions. In terms of direct marketing, Subway should create a web-site and a delivery service that will attract people who want to order food from home or work.