Which is fine- but the question to really answer, is if any ad agency can help Subway sell more sandwiches? And is advertising the answer?
The following is a cheeky review comparing Subway and its fast growing competitor Quizno’s. Neither has good advertising, but in this battle, it might not be advertising that’s needed:
Point is, the Quizno’s-Subway question inspires both competition and passionate discourse, and Munch now feels obligated to interject. “Subway or Quizno’s?” is the “paper or plastic?” of the 21st century. At some point, everybody must answer. So cueing the drum roll at this precise time, Munch will now deliver the verdict.Quizno’s.
Yup, Quizno’s is better.
In fact, it isn’t even close.
Munch came by this decision after one week of careful scrutiny, during which Munch sought opinions from several confidants and promptly dismissed all who dared to contest Quizno’s superiority.
It’s the same reason that Toyota, Honda and Nissan are making money, while GM, Ford, Chrysler and VW are having problems.
Quality.
In today’s world of information empowered consumers- if your product sucks, everyone will know. No matter how good your advertising is.
If you are smart, as VW has been in hiring Crispin Porter + Bogusky, you can distract audiences with entertainment, and making the brand water cooler discussion while you work like mad to fix your quality problems. The thing VW has going for it, unlike Subway or Quizno’s, is that at one time it had good advertising and a great reputation for quality. The brand was at one time a lifestyle brand. People who owned VW’s thought they were special.
About the only thing people can say about eating Subway is that:
It was cheap.
I think I’m eating healthy.
Not exactly a great foundation for an ad strategy.
Quizno’s has had lousy ads. Seriously lousy ads. But, they have a reputation for quality and own a position of “Toasted” in the sub market. Much better foundation to build from, but unfortunately their growth hasn’t caught up with their aspirations for a national ad budget yet, and they’ve continued to try to overreach with painful results.
Quizno’s could benefit from better advertising. Subway needs to reevaluate their value proposition and the offering. “Eat Fresh” as a tag line doesn’t fit with their plastic bagged products and their processed ingredients. By basing their positioning on a statement that most people wouldn’t agree fits, they are hurting themselves. A better strategy might be “Eat cheap”- which is based on an underlying truth.
While many agency types are offering opinons on the attempted “viral” pitch- the fact is not many are offering anything useful in the discussion. We hope that we’ve done our part to help elevate the conversation from talking about agency pitches- to how to solve Subway’s problems.
What would you suggest Subway do to improve sales?
Ad agencies aren’t playgrounds for big kids with oversized egos. At least not ours, and hopefully not yours.
Sure, we may not wear a suit and tie into the office every day (never confuse fashion with brainpower- Albert Einstein reportedly owned 7 identical black suits and wore them in rotation) and our offices may look cooler than yours- but, advertising is serious business.
Screwing up advertising can kill a business- if you have any doubt- look at what the SuperBowl spot for the shoe retailer “Just for feet” accomplished (if you haven’t heard of “Just for feet” it’s because they went out of business soon after. There is a reason to test ads and do research- but that is another subject- with its pros and cons.
This spot has been removed from youtube, This is the only place I can find it: Just for Feet Kenya mission or temporarily
Agency.com thought they’d try to be hip by releasing a video on You Tube (above) about their process to prep for a pitch to Subway. They thought it would be a “viral”- meaning it would be passed around and watched- and that they would be uber cool- except, they ended up looking like kids with oversized egos on a playground.
Yes, the video is getting watched, yes, I’m writing about it, and no, it’s not worth all of this attention- other than as an example of how not to prepare for a pitch- or what to bring. It’s mostly getting watched by other ad types- and then mocked.
There was on comment that I thought needed to be shared- from someone who calls themselves “Pitch Consultant” (we have a list of advertising agency review consultants on our site if you happen to be looking for one) sharing some insight into what to look for in an agency search- and what to avoid:
Here is yet another example where stupid ad agency people, who obviously were in the middle-lower Bell curve in school, seem to think enthusiasm is more important than intelligence.Is there an insight into how the interactive medium can add value to the physical offering in a way that will build frequency and loyalty, increase check size and same-store sales? A analysis of potential challenges the brand is having on a store-to-store up to national level? Any demonstration that the people at Agency.com understand the fast-food business operationally? How money is made? The role of communications channels? Anything that the clients, who have undoubtedly spent many more hours in different stores, might not have heard before?
Nope. Just a bunch of idiots who walked down the street in midtown Manhattan, stole jobs from entry-level service workers for a day, insulted passers-by, and otherwise did NOTHING to indicate any potential for being anything other than wacky asshole hipsters who condescend to the brand, those that work there, and those who eat there, and certainly aren’t there to make Subway a more successful business. The sad part is that they seem incapable of the shame they should feel.
A ‘passionate’ moron is still a moron. Hire some smart people, Agency. They cost a little more, but you don’t have to buy as many sandwiches or resort to pathetic crap like this.
This is one of the reasons you shouldn’t expect instant results from an ad agency- it takes time to learn your business and your customers. Great advertising solutions don’t typically come on the first campaign, they come later. Wieden + Kennedy didn’t come up with “just do it” for Nike until they had been the agency for a number of years.
Agencies need to fully understand your brand DNA to make a meaningful campaign- or have a radically different approach to communicating with the marketplace. If you are wondering why Crispin Porter + Bogusky keeps hitting home runs, it’s often because they find an exploitable niche that hasn’t been spoken to, and capitalizes on the opening. Hence Mini owners were asked to think of their cars as a personal escape tool with “let’s motor” and Burger King is now the place for the “Meathead” male, aged 18-25 who is most likely to eat fast food 4-5 times per week.
One of the main problems with the Subway account is that the client is splitting up the duties between differnt agencies. Online is just another medium, and if your agency can’t supply the complete message delivery package you should consider another agency.
Subway has been notoriously hard on their ad agencies, with many lawsuits between the franchises and the franchise holder. It’s doubtful that there is an environment for a mutually beneficial relationship between an agency and this client no matter how smart the agency is.
After years of growth, Subway is facing it’s first serious national competition from Quizno’s and others. And while Subway has made great strides in variety of offerings and has become more competitive in hot subs, they have a long way to go when it comes to making their brand relevant.
Could the right agency help contribute to Subway’s success in the market? Absolutely.
Would they come up with the solution in a few days, over subs as portrayed by the people at Agency.com in their video- absolutely not.
I’m not sure if Agency.com was paid to pitch the account- but, there is a lot to be said for “you get what you pay for” and spec campaigns from agencies invited to pitch are the last way you should pick your agency or your strategy.
Our first question to clients is always “what makes you the most money” and how do we maximize that. If you are interested in what the rest of the questions are- call us.
You’re here because you want to do great advertising, or at least are interested in it. That’s why we’re here- to help business create positive connections and community with people who may want to buy or use their product or service-
so- low and behold, there is a site called, ready:
Hi, welcome to Commercials I Hate.
I started this site in 1997 because the advertising industry thinks we’re stupid.
Commercials assume the worst about us.
Commercials use ugly stereotypes to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
That’s nasty and insulting. Lucky for you, my reader, so am I.
Enjoy,
Nathan Alexander
This is where you don’t want your ads to show up. Luckily, for advertisers- Nathan hasn’t fully discovered the power of web 2.0 and outside of the message boards- there are no RSS feeds.
If you start seeing inbound links to your site from his URL- you may want to consider hiring a new agency (but that would only happen if you follow our rule and have all your spots online, with complete searchable text, and a unique URL which rules out most companies).
In case you are wondering if your ad agency is presenting work that may possibly end up on “Commericals I hate”- Nathan provides a list of cliche’s to avoid here:
Picking an advertising agency can be like dating. It all boils down to chemistry, gut feeling and finding a relationship that works for you.”The process starts out as a linear, logical one. It ends up with gut feel and intuitive fit,” says Cleve Langton, chairman of the American Association of Advertising Agencies. “The best process is the one that most closely simulates a marriage. Chemistry is what decides it at the end of the day.”
We agree with the idea of a marriage- but it’s not chemistry that makes the difference- it’s mutual benefits- chemistry just makes it easier.
Just like a marriage- trust and respect are key- as is honest open communication and a willingness to try new things.
Afterall, you didn’t hire a new agency just to continue doing what you were doing with the old one, did you?
But as you read further into the article, the suggestions start going south:
The process has three parts:
Contact agencies and find out the minimum size budget for its client base.
Inquire about the areas in which an agency has the most experience before you say what industry you’re in. If an agency doesn’t have experience in your industry, look elsewhere.
Metrics refer to the increase in sales or foot traffic that an agency has generated for a client in the your industry. If an agency will not disclose that information, that’s a bad sign. A client should seek an agency that’s not afraid to make projections of benefits based on their experience.
Start with up to 20 agencies, experts say, and then whittle that to six or fewer. The final round should include three agencies. Avoid limiting your options to two, just in case one of them backs out late in the process, Langton says.
In the final stage, the agencies should come up with some creative ideas for you to see.
We think there is a better way- and it doesn’t start out with your budget size now. Afterall, when you get married, often times you don’t have much to work with do you? The idea is to grow together- shared risk, shared rewards- because if there is no risk- there is no reward (at least not in business).
So- instead, start identifying the type of work you like. Things you are comfortable with- and put together a “portfolio” of aspirations for your companies marketing. Write your business plan- and show what you hope to achieve through the relationship- so that you and your potential new agency can both be looking toward the same thing. Advertising isn’t instant gratification- it all takes time and patience. If you both start out with the same vision- you have a better chance of reaching it.
Next, identify agencies who have clients similar in size to you- then look one step below. That’s right- look for the one who needs your account more, because you will be higher on the priority list. Then look at the work they’ve done- does it look like the work you’ve got in your book? Look at their website- is it up to date, how does if feel? Is it about the work, or about the agency? Agencies that talk too much about themselves- are just like a bad date.
Then, and only then- ask for a meeting. Be totally honest about what the meeting is about. Ask to see some work they’ve done for other clients- and discuss the process, the restraints, the budgets (if they’ll share) and get a feel for how the agency approaches a project. Don’t ask about what they would do for you- or any kind of spec campaign. You wouldn’t ask for sex on a first date, would you? At least not from someone you respect.
At the end of this meeting, you should know if their vision for growth, could be part of yours.
The next step is to offer a small project, with a small budget to the agencies you felt most comfortable with. Better yet- give them all the same project - and see what they come up with.
Remember to evaluate the qualtity of the ideas- it’s more about the process at this point- and the relationship. How well they listened- and how well they shared their ideas.
For this marriage to work- communication is key.
We have a page of “agency search firms” on this site- you can check many of their sites for their methodology- or you can try it our way.
Either way- the cost of a failed relationship can be huge- there are no such things as pre-nups for hiring an agency.
Just another example of Google magic by The Next Wave- we’re number 3 with our post on selecting an advertising agency- something that seems to bewilder so many clients.
The saying in the business is companies get the advertising they deserve- but many times, they get the wrong advertising by picking the wrong agency. It’s not just a question of size, or expertise- many times it gets down to passion.
Does the agency have a passion for your product or service- and are you spending enough to make that passion translate into a mutually valuable relationship?
My neighbor works for Iams, manufacturer of premium pet foods. He worked their before P&G and after- and as we were painting his carriage house- we agreed on one thing that hasn’t changed: Iams still has bad advertising.
Of course, the moment P&G bought the company- big agencies took notice- and Satchi now has the account. There are also “Brand managers” and “Assistant brand managers” running aroung all over the place. Does this make for better ads- or better strategy? Of course not- and for all the gains P&G has made with their distribution might- one may consider that they’ve actually lost customers by losing their cool cred. Much like Ben & Jerry’s lost their cool when they sold out.
Satchi looks at Iams as a piece of the P&G world to service- and reap the revenue- a smaller agency might look at the account as a stepping stone to bigger things- the right agency would look at it as an opportunity to spread the word about a great pet food- and how it can make your relationship with your pet last longer and keep your four-legged friends healthy and happy.
If you aren’t happy with your advertising- take a look at why you picked the agency you picked- and how you work with them.
Maybe there should be a new career field counseling agencies and their clients- to bring the passion and love back into the relationship- just like marriage counselors?
Or, maybe you should just divorce your agency and get back on the ad dating circuit- since you’re reading this- you are obviously shopping.
An anonymous commenter took offense at our posts about the efficiency of Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Chiat/Day’s campaigns- thinking we were comparing our work to the big agencies. I deleted it- and immediately had regrets- I should have instead responded- and this is what that response should have been.
When I entered this field in 1985, one of the things that made me different than my peers was a small box with a 9 inch monochrome screen- I had a Macintosh. I made presentations to prospective employers that included their logo (scanned from a business card with a Thunderscan cartridge in an ImageWriter II) and set in 12 point “New York.” I thought I was so cool- and apparently so did a CD at a big design firm. They swore up and down that a computer could never set type- or handle 4/color or give them more control than they had in the days of photo-type, lucy’s and waxers. Needless to say, long after I left they were one of the last shops to buy Mac’s and even ended up buying memory from me (a side business that at one time was quite lucrative- $200 for 1mb chip!).
These days, if you can’t use Adobe Creative Suite, you can’t be a designer/art director, and typesetters as a profession have gone the way of the three-martini lunch. There are lots of people in the advertising business that can create an ad, or a campaign, or brand your business- and they can charge prices that range from dirt cheap (Phil Knight paid Carolyn Davidson $35 for the “swoosh”) to the very costly (The Just for Feet superbowl ad that practically killed the company).
While there are awards shows to “rank” creativity (many tainted by plagiarism – or portfolio doping with spec ads) and competitions that judge “efficiency” the fact is- advertising isn’t scientific- no matter what Claude Hopkins thought – but more of a black art- based on the ability to touch consumers souls and make them do or think about products and services differently.
Yet, most will agree that math is a science- 2+2=4, it’s black and white- but for those who are at the top of the math nerd pile- math stops being a science and becomes art- the elegance of an equation, the methods used to solve problems- and while advertising people think they are cool- and math nerds aren’t- let me point to Google- started by two math nerds who may take over advertising based on the strength of their scientific skills at solving an equation. No ad agency has ever grown its revenue like Google has- and no agency ever will- but just as there was a day when people in this business could still do advertising with or without a Macintosh (or PC if one is a masochist) we are in the days where agencies can either manage their clients accounts with or without taking on the online side of the account (which is embarrassing for our profession).
Quite simply- the point I’m making in a round-about way, is advertising/marketing is going through a transformational phase that is of epic proportions- and there are still agencies out there making money and selling themselves as solutions when they still don’t have command of this relatively new tool.
You can spend millions of your clients money on a TV spot- that can be skipped at the touch of a TiVo button, or not delivered because they chose to watch Desperate Housewives from the Apple iTunes store instead of over broadcast. John Wanamaker famously said that he knew half his ad budget was wasted – he just never knew which half; those days are coming to an end, and it should scare a lot of people in advertising.
Soon, every ad will have a direct response component in it- and awards shows won’t matter- sales will- and they will be calibrated to the penny (which will make Procter and Gamble very happy). In the mean time, we at The Next Wave, will still evaluate advertising not only based on creativity- which we believe in, and value greatly, but by the new science of delivery efficiency as measured by results- one being the ability of an advertiser to build community and connections with their customers over the new fangled Macintosh of our day- the Internet.
So while many agencies are still farming out site creation to specialty shops and talking about online viral efforts, without a clue to how these all fit in with the new paradigm in our business- we are here, trying to position ourselves with our understanding of how these pieces fit together in the same way I did 20 years ago with my little Mac built presentations. Do I believe we could do more effective work than Crispin Porter + Bogusky (or help them be more effective) yes, absolutely. Do I believe we could do work as creative as CP+B, no- we don’t have the number of people, or the pick of the people like they do, to churn that much work out.
BMW Motorcycles made a choice to hire a firm with a very cool, but functionally useless website. Think of it as the Mona Lisa of websites if you like (they proudly display the “Cyber Lion” award on the front of the site)- but the reality of this new medium is that the tool that drives the audiences (search engines) is effectively a blind idiot savant- and can’t appreciate the Flash animations, the cool graphics or the down home music. If this is the model that they plan on delivering to their client- BMW may as well give up selling motorcycles in the rest of the country as they seem to have in SW Ohio.
If the advertising business is going to survive this change, both clients and creatives need to fully understand how this new technology works- and how to implement it. That’s The Next Wave for now.
What do you think?
