Subway Restaurants of Canada has announced Milton, Ont. resident Courtney Belanger and Carl Savard of Terrebonne, Que. as the winners of its Commit to Fit Ambassador Search contest.
Belanger and Savard were two of 1,161 entrants to the contest, which began in June and was hosted on a Subway microsite and the sandwich chain’s Facebook page. After the eight-week entry period, Subway staff narrowed the field to six finalists – three each for English and French – and allowed online voters to choose the winners.
Entrants were asked to upload stories and photos that demonstrated how Subway sandwiches have contributed to their healthy lifestyles. In a video submission , Belanger, explains that she’s lost 100 pounds in 10 months by incorporating Subway menu items into her diet, and now has the energy to run around with her two kids.
Belanger, representing English-speaking Canada, and Savard, representing French speakers, collect $10,000 apiece for their victories and will also serve as the faces for Subway’s 2012 Commit to Fit consumer engagement program.
Subway reported that the Ambassador Search generated nearly 31,000 online votes, 28.5 million media impressions, 414 million digital impressions, 8,700 mobile visits, an increase in Facebook “likes” of 1,500% and large increases in traffic to the company’s English and French websites.
Kathleen Bell, co-director of marketing at Subway Canada, said the results of the program, which launched with a six-city Canadian tour by Subway advertising icon Jared Fogle as well as television,
radio, in-store, print and digital advertising, exceeded her expectations.
“We wanted consumers to get engaged and I think the number of votes, the number of submissions, the number of page views that we had all state that it was a great start for the program,” Bell said. “And we always want to see a spike in sales, which we did see.”
Bell said the 2012 Commit to Fit program was still in development and that the specific duties of Belanger and Savard had yet to be finalized.
“Right now we’re building the strategy for 2012,” said Bell. “We wanted to see who the winners were, because that can help us plan.”
