Subway Canada’s campaign touting its latest rice bowl offerings, inspired by the Caribbean heritage of Toronto Raptors players Scottie Barnes and Chris Boucher, has provided a boon to the QSR.

The first such campaign for Subway in 2022 featured Barnes renaming the brand “Bowlway,” which Subway Canada head of marketing Lisa Mazurkewich says was successful in driving both sales and cultural relevance. She adds that Boucher joined its roster of athlete spokespeople in spring 2023.

With Subway’s chef working directly with Barnes and Boucher to co-create Jerk-Spiced Chicken and Jerk-Spiced Steak Rice Bowls for this latest campaign, Mazurkewich says Subway has “seen a sizable lift in our rice bowl share in-restaurant, and via the Subway app and third-party purchases.”

Playing on the word bowl, a new integrated campaign by Dentsu Creative encourages consumers to ‘Bowl Like Scottie (and Chris),’ featuring spots of the Raptors at the bowling alley instead of the basketball court.

“Subway Canada is passionate about bringing Canadians closer to the sports they love,” Mazurkewich says. “Dentsu Creative discovered that not only are Scottie and Chris avid bowlers, but Scottie is also the three-time winner of the Barnes’ family bowling competition. We knew we wanted to highlight their passion for the game – and bring an element of fun for Canadians to participate in.”

Indeed, the campaign includes a contest, now closed, to find “Canada’s Most Ballin Bowler.” Mazurkewich says that for the contest, a strategic omnichannel PR and social initiative was launched to engage consumers and create user-generated content.

“To date, we’ve seen incredible interest from Canadians sharing their ballin’ bowler content across social media and their enthusiasm for Scottie’s and Chris’ new bowls,’ she says. “The entries have fantastic creativity, including one-of-a-kind bowling trick shots and wacky at-home set-ups.”

The winners get a trip to Toronto for two including tickets to the Jan. 26 Toronto Raptors game at Scotiabank Arena, along with an opportunity to bowl with Barnes and Boucher.

With recent trades moving other star players out of town, Barnes is now considered the face of the Raptors, while Boucher is the last remaining member from its 2019 NBA championship team. Barnes appears in the English spot, and Boucher, a Montreal native who speaks French, appears in the French version.

The media strategy included 6-, 15- and 30-second video spots, OOH, digital, the nationwide contest, influencer content, a media and influencer event, and owned-social.

Dentsu was the creative lead, MKTG was the talent lead, Carat was the media buying agency, and Veritas Communications was the lead PR and influencer, with Donor North leading social.