Subway X Rolife: Key takeaways
- Subway and Rolife connect their shared DIY propositions through miniature store-building
- The collaboration drives reciprocal traffic through membership incentives and sandwich vouchers
- Subway enters customers’ homes, while Rolife gives new consumers a low-risk introduction to its products
Build-your-own sandwich chain, Subway (赛百味), has partnered with Chinese DIY toy brand Rolife (若来) to offer customers something else to build: mini versions of its sandwich counter.
Selected meal and membership purchases come with the plain store model. Stickers are thrown into the paper takeaway bag and the bag becomes part of the model. Customers cut and unfold it to create the backdrop of a Subway store.
The traffic incentive runs both ways
Life-sized activations launch in Shanghai and Beijing, where miniature food-street displays and DIY workshops are running in Subway stores over two weekends. As for Rolife, the traffic incentive runs both ways: shoppers spending RMB299 (about US$45) on the toy-shop side of the collaboration can claim a voucher for a free Subway sandwich.
Rolife specialises in DIY miniature worlds, so this collaboration is a natural fit for them. Its wider range includes shops and cafés. That means Subway doesn’t stretch them too far beyond familiar operating grounds. For both brands though, this is about extending beyond the familiar.
The Dao view: Turning play into repeat visits
The core of this type of collaboration is creative control, be it over toys or sandwiches. There are obvious commercial incentives tied into the vouchers and membership sign-ups too. The new territory, however, is most interesting.
For both brands, this is about extending beyond the familiar
Building the model gives Subway a lasting place in customers’ homes (assuming they keep what they’ve made). That’s not somewhere we often think of Subway trying to reach.
Rolife are going to new places too, reaching potential customers by putting the brand experience into their hands free of charge. They’re breaking down the mental barriers people might have towards a first purchase by showing them how fun a little creativity can be.
