Having a sandwich for lunch? Join the crowd.

Stepping up to meet the demand for healthier options, Quiznos Sub is opening a new store in Canada every 80 hours, according to VP marketing Greg MacDonald. Meanwhile, quick-service restaurant Subway and coffee-and-doughnut chain Tim Hortons – which introduced sandwiches into its menu in 1993 – each have more locations nationwide than fast-food restaurant McDonald’s. Along with expansion, the chains have also introduced more marketing efforts, such as enhanced product offerings, spokespeople and guerrilla tactics to get noticed.

Most of the sandwich QSRs have positioned their offerings as freshly made, but newcomer Quiznos has targeted the food connoisseur in all of us with spruced-up gourmet offerings such as the Tuscan Chicken sandwich, which was originally created by chefs.

Indeed, Mississauga, Ont.-based Quiznos is touting product quality and its trademark toasted bread to set itself apart from the pack. The retailer originally launched in Denver, Colo. in 1981 and in Canada in 1996, and has over 2,000 stores in North America, with 200 in this country.

Since its early days it has updated its store design, with Italian-style terracotta colours and sophisticated, modern artwork, as well as a layout that focuses on the quick-toasting see-through oven. Customers can watch their sandwiches being toasted in the 15 newly designed stores across Canada, with 80 more to be rolled out before the end of the year. ‘It’s all about the experience,’ says MacDonald. ‘People want to enjoy their surroundings.’

Meanwhile, to encourage people to try Quiznos’ upscale $5-to-$10 subs, the chain sends out event teams dressed as the company’s spokesperson, hockey commentator Don Cherry, who appears in radio spots and P-O-S for the restaurant. (MacDonald says Cherry was chosen because of his status as a Canadian icon.) Arranged by Toronto-based Free For All Marketing, the teams – decked out in flashy plaid suits and wigs – hand out coupons and trial offers to passersby in major cities across Canada.

‘We’re really trying to drive awareness through trial,’ says MacDonald, who adds that over 2,000 $2 lunches were served up on June 23 to celebrate the chain’s 200th Canadian store, in downtown Toronto, after consumers responded to coupons placed in major newspapers. So far, these efforts have paid off: MacDonald says the chain has witnessed double-digit sales increases over last year.

Oakville, Ont.-based Tim Hortons, with 2,239 locations across Canada, has been offering fresh ‘homestyle’ sandwiches for a decade. The chain reintroduced them as ‘Tim’s Own’ sandwiches in 1998, says Patti Jameson, VP corporate communications, when it started to put more emphasis on the entire lunch menu, which includes soup and chili.

‘We offer a really high-quality lunch menu at a reasonable price,’ says Jameson. ‘[With Tim’s Own], we stress that [the sandwiches] are made fresh-to-order.’ She adds that the turkey bacon club, which was introduced a few months ago and was only meant to be a short-term promotion, was such a hit with consumers that it remains on the menu.

Tim Horton’s also continues to perform well; according to Dublin, Ohio-based parent company Wendy’s International, its same-store sales in Canada increased by 7.2% in 2002 over the previous year.

Similarly, Subway has continued its nutritious positioning of the last few years after achieving success with spokesperson Jared, who lost a significant amount of weight by eating nothing but the chain’s ‘7 under 6 grams of fat’ sandwiches. The current spot, ‘Story,’ by Boston-based McCarthy Mambro Bertino, shows twins Herman and Sherman Smith relaying how they each lost 100 pounds by eating the company’s low fat subs.

Les Winograd, a spokesperson for the Milford, Conn.-based Subway, says that the chain plans to continue using Jared in future ads to convey Subway as a ‘healthier alternative to traditionally fatty and greasy fast food.’ Winograd says the company has added 120 locations in Canada since the beginning of the year bringing the number of locations up to 1,808. He adds that sales for 2002 were up by US$65 million in Canada over the previous year for a total of US$461 million.

Toronto-based Mr. Sub, which first opened in 1968 and has 560 locations across Canada, seems to be inching along the health route as well – two franchises have partnered with Etobicoke, Ont.-based fruit and smoothie bar Juice Zone, tapping into the trend for healthy fast food.

So how do the various players’ marketing strategies stack up? Strategy asked three observers to share their thoughts.

Lance Martin, senior art director, TAXI, Toronto

Looking at this category, I find all the advertising is kind of invisible. None of them has done a great job in building a personality.

Mr. Sub is not giving me a clear indication of what it stands for as a sandwich restaurant. It used to be the only sub game in town, but [the QSR] let everything slip away as Subway and others came in. It should have reacted but it sat back on its laurels and is now pretty invisible.

If I [worked for] Mr. Sub, I would reinvent myself as the ‘hungryman sub’ – the biggest subs, the most meat, the cheapest meal deals. If everyone is going healthy, why not go ‘hey, we’re this huge sandwich covered in meat and cheese.’

Tim Hortons has done a great job moving away from coffee and doughnuts. In the last five years, it has been making a conscious effort to say, ‘Come in for a 15-minute soup and sandwich at Tim Hortons.’ Now, it has a pretty strong lunch business. I don’t think the advertising is hugely impactful, but it has picked something, gone after it and it is being consistent. It’s obviously working.

Quiznos is poised to do great things, I just don’t think [the company is] doing it yet. It has a great product and I feel like it has this great Italian, small, New York deli story that it isn’t telling.

I think there’s huge potential there if Quiznos would go after it wholeheartedly.

David Saffer, principal, SECOR Consulting, Toronto

Subway lucked into Jared and the health kick. The health message, largely driven by Subway, is going category-wide so that Mr. Sub will [also] benefit. Mr. Sub also has its own nutritional brochures, but alas, no Jared.

Quiznos is huge in the U.S. and will grow here too, but it lacks the ad budgets of its direct competitors. It has fancier digs than Subway or Mr. Sub. Pricepoints are an issue that it hopes to overcome with its taste profile. But the lack of fresh preparation in front of the customer – hidden by the toaster and metallic screens [instead of glass as at Subway and Mr. Sub] – is an issue. It also missed the opportunity to launch with fresh fruit coolers and smoothies that would have made it a darling of the wallet-set.

Don Cherry as its spokesperson is inspired – if you think Don Cherry has good taste. On the other hand, it makes a play for being accepted as a Canadian player.

Tim Hortons gets it, from Canadian heartstrings to product introductions. While its new radio ‘Fresh as a Doughnut’ is not exactly health-driven [á la Subway], it will help further distance them from second-tier competitors – where, consumers may wonder if the doughnuts are fresh. Canadians like buying trusted brands and as long as Tim Hortons stays the eponymous brand for coffee and doughnuts, it has no fears.

Fred Roberts, VP, CD, Cundari Integrated Advertising, Toronto

The sub sandwich has been fighting for its share of the fast-food pie for decades. Recently, I have paid more attention to the sub sandwich market because, like many men, I’m concerned about my weight. Having fried food for lunch means I will see a lot more of myself, which is a bad thing.

Enter Jared, and his remarkable weight-loss story. All of a sudden I’m looking at this 12-inch sandwich a little differently. The category grows and the burger people scramble to offer a low-fat lunch.

So, which sandwich is doing the best job? If I had to guess, it would be Subway. It took the weight-loss bun and ran with it. The others followed.

Quiznos offers a toasted sub. It has hired Don Cherry to deliver the line: ‘Toasted tastes better.’ Mr. Cherry is a great short-term promotional machine but what happens in between hockey seasons?

Tim Hortons has transformed smoky doughnut shops into a real lunch destination. The soup, sandwich, coffee and a doughnut combo is always a family favourite en route to the cottage.

As for advice to the sandwich QSRs: Give me a reason to find your store in a sea of fast food. The category needs to find more consumer insights. New flavours and gimmicks may get people short term, but finding that key insight builds brands long term.