This past weekend, Subway Canada joined RDS at Montreal’s F1 Grand Prix for its first weekend as the official presenter of Formula One races on the network.
In addition to sponsoring RDS’ broadcast of the Montreal Grand Prix du Canada, the QSR will sponsor the next 10 international F1 races, through to early October.
At the Canadian Grand Prix, Subway became part of the action with an on-site activation of a Subway Family Zone, where attendees could refresh and escape the heat in a misting tent, and also take part in family-focused activities such as Jenga and Connect-4. The area included an interactive photo booth and a dedicated space to rest, complete with furniture shaped like tomatoes and cucumbers, as well as complimentary, chilled treats.
The Family Zone was designed to look “fresh-forward” to reflect Subway’s ongoing “Eat Fresh Refresh” positioning.
The sponsorship also includes 15-and 30-second spots on RDS. The sandwich chain also launched a consumer contest on RDS to give fans a chance to win four tickets, accommodation, and $1,000 spending money for next year’s F1 Grand Prix du Canada event.
Subway collaborated with independent marketing communications agency M5 to create the activation and help take it beyond the race grounds into the digital space. This included teaming up with Canadian content creators and radio stations to host contest giveaways for multiple sets of tickets to the full three-day event.
Additionally, the brand activated internal contesting for its staff in Quebec to attend the event, along with in-store signage and team wearables.
Formula One has had a surge in popularity in recent years, especially among younger Canadian audiences, partially attributed to the success of Netflix documentary series Drive To Survive. The Canadian audience for Formula One races doubled in 2021, and that momentum seems to be continuing this year. The Monaco Grand Prix in May brought an AMA of 572,000 for TSN – in Toronto alone, the AMA was 159,000, more than that of the Toronto Raptors’ round three playoff games.
