Decoding: The Subway India Social Media Strategy

Social Samosa takes a look at the use of colours, offers, and trending posts that make the strong pillar of the Subway India Social Media Strategy.

As a brand, Subway India offers a pretty seamless journey between the online and offline worlds in terms of content and the social media strategy built around it. There are certain fixed assets like the Sub of the Day, brand associations with the likes of Lipton, and a core product that inherently comes with customisable elements. Subway India often uses these and more to add to its brand value and strengthen their social media presence across platforms. Let's take a look.

Social Media Footprint

Subway India has a follower base of 18.5K on Instagram and 956K on Facebook. A few days ago, the brand made its Twitter debut after an elaborate campaign. So far, they have 62 followers on the micro-blogging platform.

Most of the creatives are duplicated across Facebook and Instagram. The comment section on their page has a considerable amount of customer complaints that are dealt with ORM. On some occasions, they also get constructive engagement and praise for content. Almost an equal share of pictures and videos are put forth by Subway India, as per Talkwalker data.

Most commonly used words by the brand on Facebook include - subway (obviously), #FindingSubway, and #SubLove.

On Twitter, Subway massively uses the terms - Zomatoin, Subway India, Subway, and Zomato Care.

• One of the most important insights gathered by Talkwalker is how most of the activity on Facebook happens during lunchtime on weekdays.
• Data suggests how it is interesting that weekends are really quite and that the brand primarily caters to weekday lunch-goers.
• On some days, activity was also seen to peak during evening/snack hours.

Launch Strategy

Launching a new set of products or putting across a brand announcement is an excellent time to run a campaign to build excitement. On a number of occasions recently, Subway India has used this as a part of their social media strategy. The most recent one being the launch of their Twitter handle with #FindingSubway and the countdown to World Sandwich Day. They do love suspense.

Leveraging Trending Format

Subway India takes part in almost every trending format on social media. While riding on the moment, they are able to put forth narratives in sync with their brand communication. It almost always includes its core product, a sub. When that is not the case, it is embedded in the narrative.

Also Read: Print meets Digital: Understanding Hindustan Times social media strategy

Collaborations and more

Franchise stories of Subway India across the country have certain brand products available for purchase. These include Lipton, Pepsi, and Raw Pressery. On social media, the brand has been able to create content around these as assets. Recently, they created a digital ad featuring Viraj Ghelani. Such associations help Subway create a brand recall for the brands that are visible at their stores. It helps concretise the association in the minds of the consumers. Featuring influencers in their brand communication, of course, adds a new dimension to it, bringing in more, niche audiences.

Content around content

There are two prominent ways Subway India has been able to create content around content. One is through the promotion of content they are associated with or cases where a Subway store has been a part of the narrative. One such case is of a scene in the movie Andhadhun.

This helps the brand create a narrative that reflects its importance in the lives of its consumers: Ayushmann Khurrana goes to the store to celebrate his relationship. You could do the same!

Creating a challenge

Creating a challenge video is one of the best ways for a brand to make an impact online. These usually have an element of dance and fun in it. For Subway India, this was done with the help of #SubDance. They added a pinch of influencer marketing in the mix with names like Melvin Louis.

Subway India has been able to create digital content that is in sync with its brand communication at the stores. It is evident in the colour scheme used. The hero of their entire digital narrative is always their core products. It is definitely an intriguing case study for other FMCG brands to check out.