Categories: Articles

Agency.com Pitches Subway For All To See

To earn the Subway Restaurant interactive marketing account, Agency.com (along with a slew of other agencies) was asked to produce a five-minute video pitch. Agency.com played along, but added a twist. Instead of sending the video over to Subway HQ, they uploaded it to YouTube in hopes that it would go viral and prove to Subway how creative and interactive they truly are.
You can view the video here: Going to Work for Subway: Part 1.
There is tons of talk about whether this was a smart move… or not. You can read what Joseph Jaffe and his Jaffe Juice Heads have to say here: Beware Generic Brand Names, and let’s not forget AdRants: Agency.com Has Hipster Orgasm On YouTube.
What do I think?
It starts out as a big idea and it worked – it went viral. The challenge with everything viral is “now what?” Agency.com would have served this pitch best had it engaged in the conversation of why Subway works with everyday people like you and I, and how the interactive space can compliment their branding efforts.
As most Bloggers (and critics) are pointing out, it comes off way too much as what Agency.com thinks it is versus what they can do for Subway. But maybe that’s the point? Agency.com just launched a Blog where they are posting all feedback and extending the conversation. How long can they keep it up?
Two questions: does this add brand credibility to Agency.com or does this hurt them? And, if you were Subway Restaurants, what would you think about this whole posting it to YouTube move?

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.