• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, February 23, 2009

To drive awareness of its new, lower-priced menu, Quiznos is giving away one million subs to consumers who register online for coupons.

Consumers may use the coupons at any participating Quiznos nationwide without restrictions on day or time of day. During the sign-up process, visitors are also being encouraged to invite friends to register for free sub coupons.

In addition, each day during March, Quiznos will award one individual free subs for one year as part of its "Making the World Better" campaign. Site visitors can nominate themselves or others for the prize by writing or videotaping a short essay describing how the person has made the world better and qualifies as a "hometown hero." Quiznos will share the stories received on the site.

The sub giveaway and contest build on Quiznos' recently introduced "New Lower Prices Every Day" national campaign and tagline, "Better Prices, Better World." Starting in January, the QSR reduced prices on 37 of its most popular sandwiches, entrees and other menu items, including 20 subs now offered for under $5.

"We've made a lot of positive changes, including offering the same great quality at lower prices and making delivery available through more than 1,800 of our restaurants," Quiznos EVP Marketing Rebecca Steinfort told Marketing Daily. "We want to make people aware of this and get them to give Quiznos another look. There may be people out there who love our food but didn't view it as affordable on an everyday basis."

To drive awareness of the promotions and traffic to the dedicated site (www.millionsubs.com), Quiznos is using banner ads on a variety of Web sites, its presence on Facebook and Twitter, and local radio exposure. Radio stations have been provided with sub giveaways to use on-air.

Registrants for the coupon promotion and contest are being added to the Quiznos marketing database.

By mid-afternoon Monday, only a few hours into the promotion, the number of free subs given out was already headed past 70,000. Steinfort says that Quiznos hasn't set a cut-off date and will run the coupon promotion "as long as it's bringing in new people."