This is the time of year that visions of sugarplums turn to scary thoughts about waistlines. My gym is currently overflowing with loud (and sweaty) people hoping to be among the “biggest losers” in the contest of the month.

For the past decade, the SUBWAY® restaurant chain has tried to stand out in the crowded fast-food market by striking a low-fat eating chord with consumers. SUBWAY, is celebrating “10 years of keeping it off” featuring spokesman Jared Fogle, who lost more than 200 pounds and his “fat pants” by exercising and eating at SUBWAY. On the 10th anniversary of the campaign and the new “Tour de Pants”, I wonder: has SUBWAY’s message resonated with consumers?

In January, traffic to Subway.com jumped to more than 500,000 unique visitors, making it one of the top 3,500 sites on the Internet. People are clearly interested in the restaurant. One glance at Compete’s Search Analytics data shows that some of Subway’s online visitors are interested in the nutritional information of the SUBWAY menu.

• “Subway nutrition” drives 2% of search referrals to subway.com.
• In contrast, the top 5 searches for Taco Bell and Quiznos have nothing to do with nutrition.
• Nutritional searches aren’t uncommon among rival fast-food sites. The keyword “McDonald’s nutrition” drives 3% of search referrals to McDonalds.com. “Wendys nutrition” also drives 2.8% of search referrals to Wendys.com, although it isn’t a top-5 keyword.

People are interested in the nutritional information of SUBWAY food. But that finding by itself isn’t a clear signal that SUBWAY’s marketing approach is resonating. Does SUBWAY attract people interested in diet and fitness in general? Better than fast-food chain rivals?

Compete data shows that approximately one out of 10 online consumers is a diet, beauty and fitness enthusiast, visiting sites like Weightwatchers and BallyFitness.

• These diet/beauty/nutrition enthusiasts were three times more likely to visit SUBWAY.com in January than the average online consumer.
• They are five times more likely to visit Subwayfreshbuzz.com. Visitors to this SUBWAY site can enter to be in a commercial with Jared, play the “Pants Dance,” and submit their own weight loss stories.
• SUBWAY’s “fresh buzz” site tops more than 25 fast-food rivals in attracting this desired segment.

SUBWAY is a national sponsor of the American Heart Association’s Heart Walks and is helping to promote the non-profit Jared Foundation online. Thanks, Jared and SUBWAY, for reminding us to make healthy lifestyle choices. It’s an important message that doesn’t seem to be falling on deaf ears.

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