33. What the Consumers Say…
Taste, Quality, Value
and convenience
Subway, Jimmy
John’s, Firehouse,
Which Wich,
Togo’s….Quiznos
Quiznos still exists?
Quality
Times were great! In January, 2006, Entrepreneur magazine ranked Quiznos in its annual Top Franchise 500 as the #2 Best Overall Franchise.
In June 2006, Nation's Restaurant News ranked Quiznos in its Top 100 Restaurant Chains as the #1 fastest-growing quick service restaurant.
At their peak in 2007, Quiznos had grown to about 5000 restaurants.
History – quotes or images from Quiznos successful past
Could zoom into the guy’s face
bankruptcy
-- Where the brand is now: MARKET SHARE -- I don’t know how to animate any of this, but it would be nice to start seeing only the pie chart, then each brand zooms onto the screen so the viewer can read it, and then shrinks back to settles into its resting place where I have it now, and repeats until all 10 are in place. (Subway is intentionally very large, and found local shops for each of our cities!)
People have forgotten about Quiznos. They filed bankruptcy! They closed stores! People just don’t think abut them much anymore!
(S) flavor (W) bankruptcy (O) foodie culture (T) intense competition
Toasty TV, trying to integrate social media, links to their YouTube parody’s, adrenalin games, event sponsorship, and pop culture
Website: modern colors and fonts, word art, catering for business professionals – tie back to this in demographic section (the business people can still break from zombie lunch when they’re stuck at work)
International Sports Sponsorship: sports sponsorships may help the brand expand in international markets. But here at home… (Quiznos girls, like Budweiser, Red Bull, and Monster girls)
Three forms of research were conducted: Observations, Interviews, and Online Survey.
A coding system and protocol was developed for the observations which was utilized by every researcher on our team. Observations (of 30min each) were conducted in Quiznos and Subway locations in Texas, Colorado, and California over the period of several days in early to mid-October. When possible our team also ordered food at our respective locations. Observations yielded some information on customer types and consumer buying habits, as well as traffic patterns in the store, however without extended observations the value of this information was limited.
Interviews, on the other hand were much more interesting and provided in depth information on consumer preferences and buying habits. Each team member conducted a minimum of five interviews each (using a standardized questionaire) with willing consumer volunteers who were leaving a Quiznos location. A total of 25 interviews were completed.
Additionally, a 21 question survey was created in Qualtrics and disseminated via facebook to friends, family members and contacts of the team. There were 99 total respondents at the time the survey officially closed, and data was analyzed using SPSS. As mentioned in our previous presentation initial findings indicate that the most important factor is taste at 44% followed by health 26%, and convenience 15%. Subway ranked high on consumer preference, however of the 17% of participants who preferred Quiznos, more were female than male 75%.
Collection and analysis of secondary and primary research data reveal several common themes in the Quiznos brand-consumer relationship. One of the most notable insights is that Quiznos isn’t anywhere near the realm of lunching options when consumers think of sandwich shops. However, most consumers claim to think that Quiznos is a decent sandwich shop. As mentioned earlier, fierce competition and a swarm of store closures have all but wiped Quiznos off the map. Many consumers are simply not eating at Quiznos because they either don’t know the shop chain is still around, have forgotten about it, or found their limited store locations to be inconvenient. Due to the many store location closures, there’s a large group of consumers that don’t know Quiznos is even still around. Field research indicated that consumers rank their favorite subway sandwich shops based on time and location convenience, taste, quality of ingredients and value for their money.
Quiznos’ new target audience spans across a wide age range, and includes millennials, college students, young business entrepreneurs, executives and busy soccer moms and soccer dads. Gender and race demographics are not critical to the Quiznos appeal factor, as its wide menu variety, unique positioning and customizable meals appeal to consumers across these segments. The target audience, however, does generate enough annual income to spend money on eating out, and is willing to pay a higher food price in exchange for food quality. Psychographically, this group values the idea of making lunchtime an enjoyable eating experience. Food quality, taste, price value, convenience, a wide array of customizable food options and fresh ingredients are top priorities for Quiznos consumers. The Quiznos consumer wants a satisfying lunch experience full of flavor and freshness.
This collage of words describes what Quiznos can embody as a brand. A Quiznos sandwich is a step above your run-of-the-mill lunch sandwich because it adds color, zest and style to break up the busy humdrum of background noise. The bright, bold colors and eclectic, pop-like mix of branding materials and stylistic guidelines refresh Quiznos’ ambiguous image.
Imagine it’s a Monday. You’re at work, whether it’s a cubicle, an office suite, a laptop at home or another day of studying The morning traffic was a mess, your boss is in a bad mood, you’ve got another meeting to look forward too, but worst of all, you’re hungry. It’s lunchtime and you’ve got to make an executive decision. Will it be the mystery food in the cafeteria, a few snack packs from the vending machine, or something else altogether? That’s when you decide that you can do better. You deserve to enjoy your lunchtime freedom. Got to get away? Why not make it Quiznos?
On the outside, a Quiznos sandwich might appear to be just another regular lunch item. Take a closer look, however, and you will learn that these artfully crafted sandwiches offer consumers a lunch time experience. The freshness, quality and chef-created meals can shake up anyone’s normal lunch routine.
[Calm voice…] [take a beat] Our idea is simple. Qrave Escape? Qrave Quiznos! A delicious escape from assembly line food.
Quiznos’ campaign will emphasize digital media platforms. Television ads – in 10-second, 30-second and 60-seond spots will air during evening hours in 6-week cycles. TV ad vehicles will consist of programming relevant to the target audiences – such as reality TV shows, and high-ranking basic network TV shows. There will be less of an emphasis on subscription and cable TV shows, due to the lower volume of viewers and possible niche audiences. Online banner ads and Quiznos’ branded entertainment, or mash ups and branded parodies of popular running TV series, will be integrated to direct traffic to social media pages. Banner ads and coupons might appear on popular lifestyle, entertainment, music, business and food blogs. Branded entertainment will incorporate Quiznos product placements and help to increase conversation and consumer-generated content on Quiznos’ Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages. Quiznos will use its own Toasty TV platform to air much of its branded entertainment. Print ads would run in half or full color page ads in popular lifestyle magazines that target the young and middle-aged student or working demographic. This plan will maximize ROI potential.
A focal point of Quiznos' promotional activities is a series of vacation package sweepstakes and contests. This opportunity is aligned with Quiznos' refreshed position as the 'breakaway' subway sandwich shop. A lucky group of winners will be able to experience a truly personalized getaway package, whether that means a trip to Baja California or a transatlantic escape to a top European tourist destination. Winners will be both randomly selected in drawings, and selected against a set of criteria detailed in the specific contest rules. For instance, Facebook users might be asked to submit their personal Quiznos recipes and ingredient combinations in a contest format, while in-store customers will automatically be given a receipt code to enter an online sweepstakes.
Quiznos’ revamped media and promotions strategy is integrated across multiple traditional and emerging channels, designed to reach the right audience at the right time. Social media will play a critical role in this plan, giving the brand a platform to directly interact with consumers. While much of the budget will be dedicated to digital media communications, the plan also utilizes traditional media forms such as television, print and billboard ads. Focusing on fine tuning and building on the company’s existing branded entertainment outlet – Toasty TV – will give way to additional opportunities to engage consumers across the demographic spectrum. In-store promotions that offer consumers more value for money can be scheduled without sacrificing Quiznos’ current pricing point and positioning as a higher-end casual dining chain. Our strategic planning and creative executions will translate over into a solid media and promotions mix aimed to recapture Quiznos competitive edge and lost market share.
Social media & web: Facebook mock up
A focal point of Quiznos' promotional activities is a series of vacation package sweepstakes and contests. This opportunity is aligned with Quiznos' refreshed position as the 'breakaway' subway sandwich shop. A lucky group of winners will be able to experience a truly personalized getaway package, whether that means a trip to Baja California or a transatlantic escape to a top European tourist destination. Winners will be both randomly selected in drawings, and selected against a set of criteria detailed in the specific contest rules. For instance, Facebook users might be asked to submit their personal Quiznos recipes and ingredient combinations in a contest format, while in-store customers will automatically be given a receipt code to enter an online sweepstakes.
Twitter mock up
Contestants can put up their entries via these sites to increase consumer engagement.
Web banner ads
Table tent mock ups
Quiznos’ proposed marketing communications campaign budget is $26 millsion. This cost-efficient plan is appropriate for Quiznos’ current financial situation. However, the budget still allows Quiznos the opportunity to reach its broad audience via digital advertising, mainly television and online advertising. Radio and newspaper ads will have a very small role in the overall campaign, as these channels do not typically reach Quiznos’ targeted audience.
But what if the Quiznos customer had a chance to get more than just the lunchtime escape…. ? To fully engage consumers in this new campaign, we will host a series of getaway sweepstakes and contests. Consumers are welcome to participate by sharing their favorite go-to Quiznos sandwich, secret Quiznos sandwich recipes and ingredient combinations, or by posting up lunch break selfies with their sandwiches. All eligible participants will be entered in a drawing for the ultimate getaway vacation. Just as Quiznos offers an endless array of chef-inspired sandwich options and global flavors, Quiznos will also offer a wide array of vacation package destinations.
And here’s our girl: satisfied and triumphant in her delicious choice to escape the mundane and head to Quiznos. That Classic Italian sub sandwich has transported her to Italy...
There she goes! Breaking free from the monotony and running as fast as she can in search of a more satisfying, “craveable,” lunch experience.
…of her ESCAPE to the beaches of sunny Baja. “Qrave Escape? Qrave Quiznos! Our Baja chicken sub IS your escape!”
…transporting you to the beach.
…making you feel as though you just escaped to Venice!
The commercial closes as the loud slurping of her straw brings her back to reality. But! …her experience has been more than just a delicious lunch. It was an escape to Italy, even if it was only for a 30 minute lunch break.
Quiznos is chasing the wrong customer! The ACTUAL Quiznos customer is someone who knows food. Someone who expects quality. Someone who doesn’t mind paying a little bit more to get what they want. And, they don’t want to follow the mindless crowd and eat assembly line food! Gross…
With that first glorious bite of that warm, toasty sub, Lisa is instantly dreaming…
In walks someone with Quiznos. It’s warm, it’s toasty, and it SMELLS DELICIOUS!
Standing in line again for the same old sandwich…. See how unhappy that young woman is? She needs an ESCAPE! An escape from the monotonous, boring, assembly-line lunch routine.
[Calm voice…] [take a beat] Our idea is simple. Qrave Escape? Qrave Quiznos! A delicious escape from assembly line food.
