Subway and the "$5 Footlong"

My idea for this article came from Prof. Johnson’s M-Blog.  Here is the link to the article she posted.

            Who hasn’t seen this commercial 100 times?  Who doesn’t think of it when going into Subway to purchase a sandwich?  Perhaps one of the catchiest slogans in the market today, the promotion has caused a instant boom in Subway sandwich sales all across the US.

Started by Miami franchise owner, Stuart Frankel, the Subway “$5 Footlongs” has boosted sales enormously all across the country.  And with new commercials coming out seemingly every other month, it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.  The idea was really quite genius.  The regular price of a foot-long sandwich at Subway is around $6, give or take depending on the sandwich.  By lowering the price by about a dollar, Subway has not only seemed there product to be more of a deal, but have made the “$5 Footlong” into one of the catchiest slogans in recent memory.  I like how Stu Frankel said that he didn’t want to make it the “$4.99 Footlong” because that just didn’t sound right to him.  By rounding up one cent to $5, he has created a brilliant marketing strategy that has proven to be extremely successful. 

As with everything, however, this success will only last so long before people start to become accustom to the new pricing and forget it’s even a deal.  So to answer your question of “What's next for Subway's market plan?”  I think that they should cut the campaign while they are ahead and then bring it back at another date.  If they wait too long, people will not go anymore as they feel they are getting a raw deal.  But if they act now, when it comes back again the craze will start all over.  If not that, then they must think of some other new marketing strategy as this is destined to get old as with everything else.
          Do you agree that Subway should end the "$5 Footlong" campaign before consumers become too accustom to the deal?  What other ideas might you have?

In Response to Brittany M's Post on 3/25

            I would also agree that right now Gatorade is probably the more popular choice of sports drinks.  I feel that this has to do primarily with the advertising approach they take.  I see commercials for the new Gatorade Prime all the time with star athletes like Kevin Durant promoting the product.  Meanwhile, I rarely ever see Powerade commercials.  In today’s world it truly is all about getting the tiniest advantage over your competitors.  If a young athlete is looking in the cooler at the convenience store and has to choose either Gatorade or Powerade, he will most likely choose Gatorade because of the star athletes who promote it.

            That being said, I personally think Powerade is much better than Gatorade.  You explained how Gatorade has high levels of sodium in their product and I honestly feel that I can taste it.  For me, it’s no longer about the advertisement, but the taste.  Growing up, however, I would always choose the product that I saw advertised and promoted most.  It is no wonder why some many young people choose Gatorade.