Subway and Saatchi & Saatchi Unveil "Get Your Own Way": A Masterclass in Customisation-Led Brand Evolution

Main Facts: Redefining the Sandwich Experience Across EMEA

Subway, the global quick-service restaurant giant, has officially launched its first-ever standalone EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) brand campaign. Developed in close partnership with renowned creative agency Saatchi & Saatchi, the high-profile initiative is titled "Get Your Own Way."

At its core, the campaign pivots back to Subway’s original and most enduring Unique Selling Proposition (USP): an uncompromising, peerless level of culinary customisation. Since its inception in 1965, the fast-food franchise has empowered patrons to construct their meals precisely to their liking. From selecting the exact type of freshly baked bread and proteins to curating an array of fillings, cheeses, and signature sauces—while choosing whether the sub is served cold and fresh or warm and toasted—Subway has built an empire on individual preference.

The "Get Your Own Way" campaign breathes fresh life into this foundational identity. The multi-channel rollout features two comedic hero commercial films, a suite of witty Out-Of-Home (OOH) advertisements showcasing genuine, hyper-specific customer receipts, and a completely overhauled visual design system. Inspired by the distinct geometric shapes of Subway’s in-store metal ingredient tubs (known in the industry as "bains"), the new branding weaves the modular, customisable ethos of the restaurant directly into its graphic identity.

Chronology: From 1965 Roots to a Modern Pan-EMEA Strategy

To understand the weight of Subway’s latest creative venture, one must trace the brand’s strategic evolution over nearly six decades:

• 1965: Fred DeLuca and Peter Buck open "Pete’s Super Submarines" in Bridgeport, Connecticut, laying the groundwork for a build-your-own sandwich model that challenges traditional fast-food lines.
• Decades of Expansion: Subway grows into one of the largest restaurant chains globally, relying heavily on its "Eat Fresh" messaging and modular ordering system. However, shifting consumer trends and increased competition in the fast-casual sector dilute its distinctiveness over time.
• The Partnership with Saatchi & Saatchi: Recognizing the need to unify its voice across the diverse EMEA market, Subway taps Saatchi & Saatchi to formulate a cohesive, long-term brand platform.
• Present Day: The debut of "Get Your Own Way." The campaign marks a deliberate strategic shift away from generic fast-food advertising toward a celebration of human idiosyncrasy, establishing a unified creative banner for Subway across multiple international territories.

Supporting Data & Campaign Anatomy: Inside "Get Your Own Way"

The multi-tiered campaign is meticulously engineered to resonate across digital screens, television broadcasts, and physical urban landscapes. It relies on a blend of behavioral comedy and authentic consumer data harvested from actual restaurant orders.

The Hero Films: Comedy Meets Unapologetic Pickiness

The campaign’s narrative anchor rests on two short films directed by Saatchi & Saatchi: Driving Instructor and Footie.

• The Premise: In each spot, an ordinary customer places an exceptionally detailed, highly customized order at their local Subway. While the sandwich artists happily oblige—embracing Subway’s ethos that customers should always get their way—the protagonists’ newfound assertiveness bleeds disastrously into their everyday lives.
• The Execution: In one film, a passionate football fan takes his uncompromising attitude to the local pub, boldly changing the television channel mid-match. In the other, a student treats a driving lesson like an interior design trip, attempting to coordinate an Ikea shopping expedition while behind the wheel. The underlying message is sharp and humorous: Subway is uniquely the only place on earth where being relentlessly picky and getting your own way is not only accepted, but celebrated.

The OOH Campaign: The Art of the Ultra-Specific Receipt

Complementing the films is a series of Out-Of-Home advertisements deployed across billboards, transit networks, and urban spaces. Eschewing standard food photography, these ads utilize stark black-and-white layouts featuring real-world customer receipts.

The receipts expose the brilliant, chaotic reality of human food preferences. Notable highlights plastered across billboards include:

• "Add as much sweetcorn as you can without getting fired."
• "Pls pls pls put enough garlic & herb sauce to take down a vampire."

These hyper-specific demands serve as a badge of honor for Subway loyalists, transforming everyday transactional data into culturally resonant, laugh-out-loud comedy.

Official Responses: Behind the Creative Vision

The collaboration between Subway and Saatchi & Saatchi represents a synchronized effort to elevate fast-food marketing through sharp writing and structural brand design.

Franki Goodwin, Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi, offered a characteristically playful breakdown of the agency’s creative philosophy when discussing the campaign:

"Building a long-term brand platform around customisation is a bit like building the perfect sub (yes, this is my metaphor and I’m sticking with it). You need the foundations of a great design system (bread), a film construct that is flexible and fun (those are our fillings) and then you need lashings of craft and humour (that’s the secret sauce)."

By treating the campaign architecture like an actual sandwich, Goodwin and her team successfully bridged the gap between Subway’s physical product and its high-level advertising strategy. The visual identity—mirroring the stainless steel bains of the serving line—ensures that every touchpoint, from digital video to a subway station billboard, constantly reinforces the mechanics of choice.

Implications: What "Get Your Own Way" Means for the Fast-Food Landscape

The launch of "Get Your Own Way" carries significant implications for both Subway’s future trajectory and broader trends in quick-service marketing:

1. Reclaiming Brand Distinctiveness

In a crowded market dominated by automated ordering apps and standardized menu items, Subway is doubling down on what makes it fundamentally different. By leaning into the friction and fun of human preference, the brand positions itself not merely as a place to grab a quick bite, but as a culinary canvas for self-expression.

2. A Unified EMEA Footprint

Historically, managing marketing across dozens of European, Middle Eastern, and African markets presents unique logistical and cultural hurdles. By establishing a centralized, highly adaptable brand platform built on universal human truths—everyone likes things their way—Subway has created a framework that can scale effortlessly across borders while maintaining local relevance.

3. Cultural Resonance Through Authenticity

By utilizing real customer requests on OOH billboards, Subway taps into the same user-generated authenticity that drives modern social media culture. It signals to consumers that the brand is listening, embracing the quirks of its fanbase rather than sanitizing the menu experience.

As "Get Your Own Way" rolls out across the EMEA region, it sets a high benchmark for how legacy brands can modernize without losing sight of the core DNA that made them household names in the first place. Whether customers are asking for an astronomical quantity of sweetcorn or enough garlic sauce to deter mythical beasts, Subway has firmly staked its claim as the ultimate destination for the uncompromising eater.