After 'The Pitch,' Subway Wakes Up on Twitter

Subway got an hour’s worth of air time last night during AMC’s “The Pitch,” a new reality TV show pitting ad agencies head-to-head for brand accounts. The timeslot followed ad industry fave, AMC’s “Mad Men.” And today, the quick-serve restaurant company took aim at ad types with the Promoted Trend on Twitter, an online industry hangout.

Even though Twitter advertisers often purposefully sync up their placements with TV-related buzz, interestingly, a Subway rep told ClickZ late on Monday that the one-two punch could be characterized as “a happy accident.”

Indeed, the Twitter ad reflects the challenge confronting the winning agency, McKinney, and its “The Pitch” opponent, Wong Doody Crandall Wiener: sell Subway breakfast to consumers 18-24 years old. The brand’s Promoted Trend, which Twitter says costs $120,000 per day, used “SubwayBuy1Get1” for ad copy. People who clicked through were taken to a Twitter search page, displaying one of five copy variations (below). From there, click-throughs led to a landing page with Subway’s full breakfast menu.

• Need reasons 2 wake up early? #SubwayBuy1Get1! Learn how 2 get a 6″ FREE sub (=/lesser $) before 9AM: http://bit.ly/qMaMvf P&P may vary
• Expand ur horizons w/ #SubwayBuy1Get1! Free sub of =/lesser $ when u have ur fav 6″ sub before 9AM! http://bit.ly/qMaMvf (P&P may vary)
• #SubwayBuy1Get1 is here to make ur mornings better! FREE 6” sub of =/lesser $ when u buy one be4 9AM! http://bit.ly/qMaMvf P&P may vary
• Busy after work? Try a breakfast date! FREE 6″ sub (=/lesser $) when u buy 1 be4 9AM w/ #SubwayBuy1Get1! http://bit.ly/qMaMvfP&P may vary
• Anything better than a FREE sub? Get a free 6” sub (=/lesser $) when u buy 1 be4 9AM w/ #SubwayBuy1Get1! http://bit.ly/qMaMvfP&P may vary