By UNH Today
Last week, as part of Subway Day at UNH, teams of students had the opportunity to pitch marketing ideas to executives from the largest restaurant chain in the world about sponsorship opportunities and other strategic initiatives. A veteran of many advertising and marketing pitches during his days as an executive at MasterCard, Larry Flanagan ’80, special assistant to the president at UNH, focused on one thing during the presentations: the reactions of the corporate judges to the proposals.
“There was a lot of head-nodding and acknowledgement of some fantastic ideas,” Flanagan said.
At the end of one presentation, Tony Bonetti ’83, assistant manager of sports and partnerships at Subway, joked that he thought the group bugged his office because many of the highlights in the student team presentation were ones that Subway was working to implement.
“You all did a great job,” said Don Fertman ’76, chief development officer for Subway. “I could tell you did your homework. We are going to take something back from each presentation.”
The students were part of assistant professor Kevin Mongeon’s sports management class. They started developing ideas at the beginning of the academic year. Recently, the class chose the top four groups to present as part of Subway Day.
The group of Quen Lamb ’14, John Lavorgna ’14 and Greg Rubenstrunk ’13 were judged the best for their presentation proposing a Subway partnership with the Green Sports Alliance, a nonprofit organization that helps teams and stadiums enhance their environmental performance.
Other groups presented ideas for partnerships with America’s Farmers, Major League Baseball, NASCAR and DECA, an organization for high school and college students interested in business.
“All of the students learned the process of developing ideas,” said Mongeon. “They did a phenomenal job.”
The pitch competition was just one part of the day that provided students with a unique opportunity to interact with executives of the largest restaurant chain in the world, many of whom happen to be UNH grads.
The day began with a panel discussion featuring Subway executives Michelle DiNello ’82, director of corporate communications; Chris Martone, corporate executive chef; Fertman; and Bonetti.
DiNello shared the story of how founder Fred DeLuca started what became Subway with a family friend when he was 17 years old. Nearly 50 years later, there are more than 38,000 Subway locations around the world. Bonetti detailed the emergence of Jared as a Subway spokesperson and his work with other Subway “famous fans.” And Fertman talked about his appearance on the hit reality TV show “Undercover Boss.”
During a lunch catered by Subway, six teams of students participated in a sandwich competition modeled after the Food Network’s “Chopped.” Before naming the winners, Martone told the competitors, “This is what I get to do every day for mouths around the world.”
The winning team of Nicholas Graham ’16 and Gary Crawford ’15 created the “Farmyard Supreme,” which featured black forest bacon with mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, pieces of Granny Smith apples, goat cheese, pepper and garlic.
Graham, a management of sports industries major, shared his secret for success. “My mom is a chef,” he said, “and I watch a lot of shows on the Food Network.”
