Subway: Project Crave
I was the chief architect of ‘Project Crave’ a piece of deep strategic thinking that revolutionised the way Subway present their product globally. And it worked, UK Crave scores immediately jumped 7%. Read more in the 2025 APG paper that has been submitted.
Guy Reason, Jonny Turnbull & Shaun Murphy— April 2025
In 2023, cravings for Subway’s iconic Subs were in decline…which spelt a problem in a category where craveable food is everything, and where every competitor was stepping up their food game. To diagnose a solution, rather than looking outward at the tried and tested tactics of the category, Subway took a microscope to its DNA, and took the nerdier path of science. This is a story of how Subway defied QSR category food norms, and dug deeper into the sensory science behind the perfect Sub. Codifying a science-backed approach for the perfect Sub build, Subway revitalised its approach to food in a way that extended way beyond comms. Adopting an entirely new approach to NPD that put sensory first, Subway got the nation salivating for Footlong more than ever before.