Filed under: Products and services, Competitive strategy, Coca-Cola (KO), PepsiCo (PEP), Marketing and advertising, McDonald’s (MCD), Yum Brands (YUM), Battle of the Brands
This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.
Businesswise, it’s no real competition between Subway and Quiznos. Subway, the number 1 sub sandwich chain, claims to have more than 29,000 locations in 86 countries, earning more than $11 billion in 2007. Quiznos, on the other hand, has more than 5,000 locations in 20 countries, earning $130 million in 2004, making it a distant number 2. In fact, Subway is the third largest fast-food chain globally after Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM) (Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, etc.) with 34,000 locations and McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), with 31,000 locations.
Both Subway and Quiznos are privately owned, franchise fast-food chains. While Quiznos is a limited liability company controlled by chairman Rick Schaden and his family, Subway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Doctor’s Associates, Inc., a company founded in 1965 by Fred De Luca and Dr. Peter Buck specifically to oversee the Subway chain of restaurants.
Subway menus vary by store. For instance, its restaurants in Muslim countries serve Halal menu, and Subway has kosher restaurants in New York, Los Angeles, Kansas City, and a suburb of Cleveland. All locations feature submarine sandwiches, ranging from four-inch “mini subs” to its three-foot giant subs. Popular sandwiches include Turkey Breast, Italian BMT, and the Subway Club. All of Quiznos’ sandwiches are served toasted, and its best-sellers include the Classic Italian, the Mesquite Chicken with Bacon, the Prime Rib Cheesesteak, the Chicken Carbonara. Last fall Quzinos introduced flatbread “sammies.”
When it comes to advertising, Quzinos has been all over the map, including ads featuring a man suckled at a mom wolf’s teat, speaking “Baby Bob” ads, a dig at its larger rival with ads featuring a “Wrong Way” restaurant — and then there were the creepy but short-lived Spongmonkey ads. Subway’s best-known spokesman is Jared Fogle, who in 1999 is said to have lost 245 pounds on a diet featuring Subway sandwiches.
But don’t think that the smaller Quzinos has had no influence on Subway. In 2003, when most Subway locations switched their beverage contracts from PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) products to Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) products, Coca-Cola helped pay for the initial rollout of toaster ovens to Subway restaurants in North America, This granted customers the option to have sandwiches toasted, in response to increased competition from Quiznos.
But the real competition is not between one company and another, but between their product offerings. Who has the tastiest offerings? Who provides the ideal value? Vote in our poll and let us know what you think.
Vote in our poll for Subway or Quiznos as your preferred brand, and let us know in the comments why you love it.
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