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Behind the Work in association withThe Immortal Awards
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How Subway Amsterdam Delivered via Canal for King’s Day

18/05/2023
Advertising Agency
Amsterdam, Netherlands
310
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Subway Amsterdam’s Lize Verdegaal and Fitzroy’s Mischa Schreuder tell LBB’s Nisna Mahtani about the ‘Super Bowl feeling’ of King’s Day, and how everything came together


King’s Day in the Netherlands is a celebration of the royal family and all things orange, as per the Oranje-Nassau family name. In 2023, this celebration took place on April 27th, with the country enjoying a bank holiday and lining the streets of Amsterdam, adorned in orange clothes and accessories to symbolise the occasion.

To commemorate King’s Day this year, sandwich restaurant Subway took to the canals of Amsterdam to deliver its signature food in a totally unique way. The ‘Royal Submarine’ proved to be an ingenious way to order and deliver food while avoiding crowds on one of the city’s busiest days of the year. Pairing the campaign with a teaser showing the (lookalike) King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima boarding a Royal Submarine earlier in the week, the anticipated launch was shared across social media. On the day, people in the city could show their patriotism by ordering orange sandwich toppings and taking a trip on the canals in the signature green submarines.

Explaining the logistics behind the stunt are Subway’s marketing manager Lize Verdegaal and agency Fitzroy’s executive creative director Mischa Schreuder, who spoke with LBB’s Nisna Mahtani.




LBB> Let’s start with a little bit of background about King’s Day in the Netherlands. How do people celebrate and what are some of the traditions?


Mischa> King’s Day is the day we celebrate the birthday of our king on April 27th. We do that together with 17 million Dutch people, and most of them wear orange clothing because of the family name of our king, Oranje (Orange).


LBB> Why was this the perfect momentum for Subway to create a campaign around? 

 
Lize> After two covid-19 years, we introduced our first King’s Day activity last year. The feedback was very positive, and we loved being present during such an iconic Dutch moment. That’s when the good memories are made, and we want to be a part of that!

It was clear that we had to do something again this year, but we needed to make it bigger. We asked Fitzroy for help, very last minute, and they absolutely delivered.


LBB> Can you tell us how the idea for this first started? What were some of the initial ideas and how did they evolve? 


Mischa> We wanted to create something that would be talked about, and at the same time, something people needed. On King’s Day, a lot of big brands are doing things: a little Super Bowl feeling. So, if you do something to be noticed, you have to play smart. We wanted to do something that people would share if they saw it. 

We had a list of ideas, but the ‘Royal Submarine’ was one of our ideas on the shortlist. The only problem was: could we build it within three weeks and connect it to Uber or Just Eat? The other thing we wanted was to do something upfront. A week before King’s Day, we wanted to make sure there was already a buzz.

We knew the king and queen were going to do a boat tour on King’s Day. So we wanted to do a ‘rehearsal trip’ with the king and queen (lookalikes). But they looked so real from a distance and played with hidden imagery that the trick pulled off. We had our ‘royal couple’ with a security man next to them and on the green submarine Royal Submarine. It was not branded yet, because otherwise, everybody would know it was a publicity stunt. 

We started to do the trip at lunchtime so a lot of people were walking around outside at lunchtime. People started shouting ‘Maxima and Willem’ and began to film and post. So the trick worked and our PR started to fly. After a day we released a film: Do you want to be treated as royals? Order a ‘Royal Sandwich’ on King’s Day and enjoy your sandwich from a Royal Submarine.




LBB> A Subway submarine - how did you pull that off? Can you tell us about some of the logistics, the design and making everything match the brand?


Mischa> We built the boats in three weeks. They were specially made by the marketing agency Raúl & Rigel.

The boats were made of aluminium and looked like real submarines. Underneath it was a boat, so this submarine wouldn’t sink. In the end, we had three Royal Submarines painted green with the name Royal Submarine, and branded with Subway colours and logos. 

We had the boats, but the most important thing was that people could order a ‘Royal Sandwich’ on one of the big platforms. The location of the submarines wasn’t normal, so we needed a partner who could help us with the technical parts. Just Eat made it possible for people to order their sandwich, and after a couple of minutes, a driver of Just Eat would be standing on the submarine, delivering your sandwich. People received their sandwiches for a symbolic price of 0.27 cents (27 - April King’s Day). And, they could take a ride on the boat - relaxing and enjoying their sandwich!


LBB> How about the orange ingredients in subs, why was that important to include?


Mischa> On King’s Day, a lot of things are orange, because of the king’s family name. The people wear orange clothes and most people are dressed up with orange caps, heads, shawls, T-shirts, etc. on that day. That’s why we wanted to give it an extra orange connection, so next to the 0.27 cents sandwich we added orange elements to it. 


LBB> How did people react to seeing the ‘Royal Submarines’?


Mischa> The week before the event, our PR stunt people started to take pictures and spot the ‘king and queen’. On King’s Day itself, it got so many eyeballs. People wanted to jump in. They took pictures and even the water police stopped us to take pictures and share them. When the water police pulled us off, I thought: ‘Oh no’. But they liked it and had never seen three submarines in the canals of Amsterdam. And they wanted to be part of that. You can’t get a better compliment.




LBB> The sandwiches were delivered through Just Eat and on the actual submarines. What was that like and did it mean food reached customers faster? Should this be the new delivery method?


Mischa> This was once in a lifetime for the couriers. But next year we will be there again. 


LBB> Were there any challenges when it came to executing the campaign and bringing it to life?


Mischa> Yes, the most difficult part was to check the logistics. On King’s Day, normally food delivery is not possible in the city centre. So, we wondered how we could make it possible for only people from the city centre to order, because we did not want orders further than 3 kilometres away. Otherwise, it would have been a long boat trip. The technical part was done amazingly by Just Eat, together with the Subway team. This was a great team effort.


LBB> What’s next for the brand? Are there any other weird and wonderful ideas in the works?


Mischa> In the future, we want to make creative work that will stand out for Subway. We want to create things that people like to see. You can make advertising in a way that people want to see and are willing to share, and that’s what we are aiming for. Subway is a client who works closely with us, and that collaboration can create better things.


LBB> Is there any other part of the creative process which you’d like to share?


Mischa> Soon, we want to use the submarines to clean the canals. If people step on the boats for free, they can help with this! That way people are happy on the boat, and we clean the canals in a fun way.


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