The Subway chain has done a great job in recent years of finding ways to attack the demo they are trying to reach, whether that is through their team of athlete endorsers, NASCAR or even through their weight loss king, Jared. By going after those groups, Subway spoke right to the adult who chased fast food, and their affordable meals and “Eat Fresh” campaign resulted in some great brand building and awareness, not to mention sales growth. Now Subway will look to step up their pitch to a younger and family audience by expanding their partnership with Little League, this past week kicking off a promo tied to Little League Opening Day and continuing through the summer. The promotion will use some greats of the game, Bucky Dent, Fred Lynn and others, in key markets as part of a tour with celebrity signed and designed baseballs that will be auctioned off for Little League charities. The promotion will coincide with Little League's 70th birthday, and comes at a time when local youth sports are growing in interest (and Little League is expanding internationally) but sponsorship for programs is struggling. By taking the message to the highly visible and well traffic’ed stops, the Subway brand and the connection to local youth is expanded, with a dash of celebrity thrown in. The promo then accomplishes a host of ideals, both raising funds, awareness and buzz for Little League, while giving Subway franchisees a little extra in a challenged economy for customers to choose their brand over the myriad of affordable chains available. Nice pitch for exposure and branding in a summer long program with a charity tie…a good win for all.
Some other good reads…the LA Times Kurt Streeter had a good access piece, seeing an NHL game through a goalie's eyes…si.com's Joe Posnanski has a great piece on the state of sportswriting today…Yahoo's Michael Silver has a piece on Jeff George's final comeback attempt as an NFL QB at 41…and ESPN.com's Dana O’Neil had a good background piece on Missouri's Zaire Taylor.
