Defining a Brand: The Subway Experience.

Posted by Shane Woodward, on February 17, 2009

My original intention was to include this post as part of my ongoing "WTF" series, but now that I've put a little more thought into it, I've decided to launch a new series of posts which discusses, rants about, and pokes fun of those moments whereby your perception of a brand is completely altered, often for the worse, and usually forever.

"The Sitch":

It's lunchtime in Belle-vegas. Agency life being what it is, sometimes one has to grab lunch on the fly. Unfortunately, lunch on the fly in this end of town means that you only have a few establishments to choose from. Subway, the setting for today's "experience" happens to be one of our usual haunts.

The Cast:

To protect the identities of the parties involved (save for myself) I will not be using their real names. All other information will be presented in a wholly (mostly) accurate fashion.

The Subway Nazi is a classic example of the kind of employee you end up with when you hiring process focuses on quantitave rather than qualitative apects of an individual. She performs all of her duties as if she has a gun to her head, blurting out cliche laden phrases for the purposes of satisfying some ill-begotten rubric pinned to the wall beyond the range of mortal viewing. If one were to categorize Sandwich Artists, the Subway Nazi would fall in somewhere between impressionist and finger-painter, with a generous helping of whatever Van Gogh had when he was hacking his ear off. Where one's sandwich is concerned, meat is applied by the roll, and vegetables by the fist-full. Her superpowers include the uncanny ability to fabricate whole meals without so much as a single glance at the product in question.

The Subway Nazi's antics have been the source of much discussion at the office. In fact, we actually do refer to her, almost affectionately, by the pseudonym used in this epic tale.

Shrek is an employee who generally tries to perform her job well, but lacks the social graces necessary to thrive in a customer service environment. Her superpowers are limited to selective hearing, and the ability to project her voice at volumes beyond that which human vocal chords are capable of.

The Epic Tale:

As I pulled up to the storefront, I could clearly see that they were busy. Not excessively so, but certainly they were experiencing higher than average traffic. As I walked through the door, I was immediately greeted by a pile of waste on the floor, assumably spilled over from the swollen garbage can nearby. Accidents happen, but this pile had been there long enough to have been trampled by several patrons, resulting in discrete saucy-cheesy footprints leading the way to the sandwich counter.

As I continued to approach the sandwich station, the thunderous voice of Subway Nazi boomed, "You need to tell me what you want on this sandwich so I can finish it." Seated at a table across the room, a mouse-like elderly woman responded with a meek "everything but hot peppers please."

Shortly afterwards, I was greeted by Shrek, who asked to take my order. "Twelve inch Chicken Bacon Ranch please, on Monterey Cheddar" I offered. "Toasted?" Shrek countered. "Please." I responded confidently. "Toasted?" Shrek thundered once more. "Please." I repeated, less sure of myself.

"White Cheddar?" Shrek continued.

"Shredded please."

"What kind of cheese do you want?"

"Shredded please..."

Shrek, apparently satisfied with my responses, continued to assemble the framework for my would-be lunch. Unfortunately, as she turned to deposit my meal into the toasting oven, she caught it on the oven door, scattering strips of chicken and shredded cheese in all directions. Dismayed, Shrek collected the chicken and repositioned it on the bun. Uncertain of what to do with the cheese on the warming oven tray, she consulted Subway Nazi, who advised, "Just dump it on the floor. Someone will sweep it up eventually." Shrek complied, sought out new cheese for the sandwich, placed it in the oven (successfully), and moved on to the next customer.

"Ding."

At this point in the story, I found myself face to face with the Subway Nazi. Fear, apprehension, and distrust tugged at my mind with icy fingers.

"What would you like on it Hun?"

"Lettuce and tomato please, with a little bit of green olives."

With an offhand gesture, the Subway Nazi willed two fist-fulls of lettuce into existence and applied them to my sorry looking sandwich simultaneously. Before the lettuce had settled, several tomatoes were thrown into the mix, followed by enough green olives to feed a third-world nation. Maybe two.

"Is that all?"

"Can I get some ranch dressing please?"

She applied the dressing, and without so much as breaking eye contact, tossed the dressing bottle several feet to land, as if willed, perfectly on end in its receptacle.

"To go?"

I nodded.

With my lunch nearly ready for consumption, the Subway Nazi drew an evil looking blade and promptly divided my sandwich down the middle. Gently, she set the blade aside, as if it were an old friend, and turned back to the sandwich, her eyes aglow with dark zeal.

In a single trained motion, the Sandwich Nazi clutched my sandwich, slid it down the cutting-board and hurled it onto a pile of waxed-paper wrappers, completely spilling the contents of half the sandwich in the process. With an uncaring shrug, she scooped up the projected toppings with one hand and crammed them back into the abused and tattered bun, and tightly rolled the sandwich up, much like a spider would encapsulate its prey.

The tale did not end there though. The cashier managed to drop the sandwich while bagging it, and then threw my change on the floor, clearly offended at having to break a $20. These events seemed trivial, and barely worth noting amidst the aftermath of the Sandwich Nazi's dark plan.

Back to Reality:

Too often people overlook the vast scope of what brand really is. When identifying a company's brand, people tend to only look at the the top layer of a much bigger picture. A brand isn't just about marketing and positioning. To me, brand is about connection. More specifically, brand is all about the connection that a company, product, or service has with a consumer, and more importantly the consumer's perception of that company, product or service. Following that line of thought, any consumer touchpoint that can lead to a shift in the consumer's perception of a company, product, or service then becomes an important aspect of brand.

In Subway's case, the company has spent significant quantities of money leveraging a brand from the top down, only to have my perception turned upside down by an awful point of sale experience. As a consumer, am I more likely to buy into some intangible marketing message, or be influenced negatively by having my food slapped around and abuse while standing in a pile of garbage?

Sure, I still bought, and ate the sandwich. I am also starting to think that it isn't worth the trip to Subway next time I'm looking for a quick lunch. Mr. Sub is closer anyways.