Subway debuting NFC mobile payments and tying in Velti’s Mobile Marketing Platform

We all saw that Subway embraced NFC mobile payments when it became a launch partner for Google Wallet back in May. Since then, Subway hasn’t been resting back on its laurels and waiting for NFC technology and mobile payments to become mainstream. In fact, they haven’t been waiting to deploy a mobile marketing strategy either. Waiting is something the fast food chain doesn’t seem to have on its agenda for its company or its customers and that’s a good thing. Last week, Subway selected Velti to be its mobile marketing technology provider. Subway intends to use Velti’s mGage mobile marketing platform to consolidate its marketing efforts globally onto one single mobile platform.

“We see enormous potential in our mobile campaigns and look forward to delivering a more robust experience with Velti,” said Joost Zimmerman, Director of Digital Marketing at Subway. “Our goal is to utilize mobile marketing as a highly personal and direct way to reach our customers and give them access to SUBWAY® at any time, wherever they are.” We are not sure if Zimmerman actually verbalized the ®, but that was the quote so we left it in!

How will Subway use Velti mGage for NFC, mobile payments and mobile marketing?

Subway isn’t what you would describe as a small going concern. It has stores in 90 countries and 34,000 restaurants globally. Managing the marketing for that size of organization on a local and global basis, for different devices and platforms would be a logistical nightmare. Velti’s mGage platform will be used to launch transactional mobile marketing programs that allow consumers to order meals from their phones for pick up at the nearest Subway restaurant. In addition, through a new mobile app and mobile site, it will enable them to access key information including menu, nutrition and store locations. The company is reported to be working on app for iOS and Android, and if you are in marketing, you probably already know that apps perform better than mobile websites, but Subway appears to be hedging its bets by doing both.

Will the Subway mobile marketing investment in Velti pay dividends?

Subway’s use of Velti mGage represents the biggest investment that the company has made in mobile so far and their strategy is obviously of the aggressive flavor. The company hopes to have that system in place across the majority of its 24,000 U.S. locations by early next year, with a wider global rollout in 2012. However, the plans don’t stop at just mobile. Zimmerman said, “We see a lot of opportunities to create crossover between TV and mobile,” and,”We want to jump into this space now. The adoption rate of smartphones has been tremendous, and it’s the right time to start really leveraging those devices for the brand.” The TV comment lets us know that Subway, with Velti mGage, intend to air commercials that can be directly responded to via mobile phones. Subway already adds URLs to commercials, so having a more integrated approach makes sense for multi-faceted and multi-format campaigns. Zimmerman said that promotional activity for the new mobile products is still being planned but will likely include mobile ads, mobile sponsorships, in-store promotions, and potentially TV media.

“Subway is poised to set a new standard in mobile marketing,” said Alex Moukas, CEO of Velti. “The penetration of mobile devices worldwide coupled with Subway’s presence in more than 90 countries will allow Subway to implement innovative global and local campaigns to drive in-store traffic, customer loyalty and brand engagement.”

But what about Subway and Velti’s approach to NFC payments and Google Wallet?

As we mentioned before, Subway was a launch partner for Google Wallet and is developing apps for Android and IOS. Both Subway and Velti have said that they intend to integrate Google Wallet where possible in order to further streamline the ordering process for consumers. So, in essence what we are talking about here is a Subway wallet that uses Google Wallet for its payments and also has its own promotional facilities for coupons and offers. Velti are working to integrate Subway’s backend systems with its own to make the mobile ordering function possible and will add Google Wallet functionality when applicable.