Dive Brief:
- Subway is relaunching its Sub Club loyalty system 20 years after shutting down the program, according to a Monday press release.
- The program offers consumers a free footlong after the purchase of three footlong sandwiches or six six-inch sandwiches, meaning it has a roughly 25% discount rate depending on sandwich selection. Other benefits include free birthday cookies, exclusive offers and promotions.
- Loyalty programs are an important component of the value matrix at a time of high consumer price sensitivity. New ways to foster a sense of value may be especially important for Subway, which has struggled to replicate the value perception driven by its long-defunct $5 Footlong program.
Dive Insight:
Subway has updated its loyalty program several times in the past few years. In 2023, the chain launched the points-based MVP Rewards, which replaced its MyWay rewards program. MyWay, which launched 2018, offered four tokens for every dollar spent, with a $2 credit upon reaching 200 tokens. MVP Rewards members will automatically be converted to the Sub Club.
Subway has modernized the frequency-based Sub Club, and consumers can join through Subway’s website and app. The historical program was based on stamped cards which, Wire reported in 2005, were easy for some consumers to replicate.
Dave Skena, Subway’s chief marketing officer for North America, said the resurrected Sub Club was the brand’s richest loyalty system yet.
“Our top priority as we rebuilt Sub Club was to reduce the number of visits needed to earn something of real value,” Skena said.
Subway, which was acquired by Roark Capital in a multi-billion dollar deal in 2023, has been working on a comprehensive brand turnaround. The relaunch of Sub Club fits neatly into that strategy. Other key components include the brand’s effort to capture the snacking occasion with its Sidekicks menu, and its new Fresh Forward 2.0 store design, which has drawn franchisee opposition over costs.
A wide range of brands are responding to the value-conscious consumer environment with new loyalty programs or renovations of existing platforms. Cava offered status matching to loyalty members who had premium status in a variety of other brands for several weeks this fall. Philz Coffee and Krystal both added points-based loyalty programs in October, and Culver’s created a national loyalty program in November.
Some brands have made moves that contravene the trend toward more generous rewards of late. Dunkin’ updated its redemption system in a move that made most items harder to redeem, and Starbucks has been shifting away from loyalty discounting for several quarters.
