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Subway to be featured on reality show about advertising pitches

April 6, 2012

Subway will be the featured company on AMC's unscripted series, "The Pitch," April 8 at 11 p.m. ET. The episode will chronicle the intensity top advertising agencies encounter when they take aim at a major new piece of business for the restaurant brand.

According to the New York Times, in each of the eight initial episodes of "The Pitch," two agencies face off to win a stand-alone contest to create a campaign, in seven to 10 days, for a major marketer. The marketer then has the option of transforming the campaign into actual ads.

A spokesperson for Subway points out this participation comes on the heels of other successful broadcast integrations for the QSR chain, including NBC's Biggest Loser and Chuck, and that Subway utilizes these multiple marketing alliances as part of a broader communication strategy to connect with consumers worldwide.

"These types of integrations are another way the brand distinguishes itself from their competitors," the spokesperson said.

Tony Pace, Subway's global chief marketing officer, told the NY Times that these branded message integrations have provided a "fair amount of success." The winning agency's ads could potentially run for Subway as early as this summer.

Pace is no stranger to reality TV. In November 2010, he participated in CBS' "Undercover Boss."

The Pitch will also include Clockwork Home Services, Waste Management, Frangelico and Popchips.

Fifteen agencies agreed to participate, all of them small or midsize independent shops. They include the Ad Store, Bandujo Advertising and Design, BooneOakley, Bozell, Conversation, DiMassimo Goldstein (a k a DiGo), FKM, the Hive, Jones Advertising, Kovel/Fuller, McKinney, Muse Communications, SK&G, WDCW LA (the Culver City, Calif., office of Wong, Doody, Crandall, Wiener) and Womenkind.

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