The past few weeks have provided unprecedented sports news. Manti Te’o and Lance Armstrong dominated the headlines. Why didn’t I blog about those stories and relate the message back to engagement or leadership? The Manti Te’o story is beyond bizarre-I will pass. Lance admitting he used performance enhancing drugs? That’s not exactly news in my opinion. So-where am I finding my inspiration?
In a foot long-or more accurately, an 11 incher.
Matt Corby wasn’t a known name until the Australian went to Subway and ordered a foot-long sandwich. When he got his order, he went home and measured it since he was not convinced of their Foot Long promise. When Matt measured the sandwich, it was only 11 inches, so Matt posted the below picture to the Subway Facebook page. He wrote, “Subway pls respond.”
This picture and post caused a media uproar-even consumers filing lawsuits. Subway responded to Matt’s picture and posted the following:
“Hi, Matt. Thanks for writing. Looking at this photo, this bread is not baked to our standards. We have policies in place to ensure that our fresh-baked bread is consistent and has the same great taste no matter which Subway restaurant around the world you visit. We value your feedback and want to thank you again for being a fan.”
There are plausible explanation as to why it was not 12 inches. One of them? When it gets cold, it shrinks.
OK-not going near that one.
So why all the uproar? Clearly people who are filing lawsuits, you have to dismiss because it’s not worth the oxygen to discuss. If you are morbidly curious to read about it, Click Here.
Here is Where Subway Fell Short:
- Subway brands and promotes itself as the $5 footlong Sub. When you brand yourself, and even go as far to create an annoying jingle about the product, you must deliver. It’s that simple.
- Their initial response to the media frenzy: “In response to the original photo on Facebook that unleashed the wave of complaints, Subway Australia posted a statement clarifying that “footlong” subs were just a trademark, not reality. “‘SUBWAY FOOTLONG’ is a registered trademark as a descriptive name for the sub sold in Subway Restaurants and not intended to be a measurement of length”.
Subway Australia should have aligned their message before making this embarrassing response. You cannot simply brand, promote and lead with this message and then claim it is not reality. Someone at Subway spoke up-and provided some clarity around the issue. Subway reissued a revised statement to the Chicago Tribune:
“We have redoubled our efforts to ensure consistency and correct length in every sandwich we serve. Our commitment remains
steadfast to ensure that every Subway Footlong sandwich is 12 inches at each location worldwide.”
Subway decided transparency was the best option to respond. If Subway had called TEEG to consult with them, here is what we would recommend:
- Importance of defining and branding your culture: Evaluate your current culture, and then live it
- Linking your hiring and selecting strategy to your brand: Compile a hiring profile based on behaviors and traits and develop brand messaging that sells your story to employees. Subway employees-take shrinkage into consideration.
- Engage and Retain: Integrate your brand into every part of the employment experience
- Understand the importance of leveraging social media: Social media has become a powerful brand accelerator. Learn the importance of embracing social media as an employment, cultural, and client connect, and how your organization handles and responds to social media attention-positive or negative.
Maybe Subway will revert back to Jared and his massive weight loss (235 pounds) with the Subway diet…of course Jared probably consumed way fewer calories than ever thought.
Stephanie Mello, VPE, TEEG
Sources:
ABC News, http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2013/01/subway-sued-over-footlongs-that-came-up-short/
CBS News, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18559_162-603484.html
Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/subway-footlong-scandal_n_2550156.html
Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-talk-subway-footlong-lawsuits-0125-20130124,0,1033607.story
