Nov. 18, 2003 – HP today announced that Subway Restaurants will be using HP digital publishing solutions to empower nearly 20,000 international franchisees with regional and local marketing capabilities. Whether it is an order of crisps in the United Kingdom or a baguette in France, each menu complies with Subway branding guidelines, yet gives franchise owners multiple options for their individual store needs. “Before installing the HP solution it was difficult to keep up with the requirements for each European franchise owner. By the time we customized, translated, printed and laminated all the thousands of menus, the menus would be ready to change again,” said Ruth Woyciesjes, director of creative services, Subway Restaurants. “Now we will be able to deliver beautiful custom menus in less than two weeks and we expect to save nearly $2.8 million over the next three years using HP’s digital publishing solutions.” Using an online collateral management tool, Subway franchise owners will simply choose the menu panel they are most interested in and fill out the variable fields for pricing and local sandwich options specific to a particular geography. Once completed, a member of HP’s global print network will produce the menus using an HP Designjet 5500 printer and ship the menus directly to the stores. Not only does this method save time from a production standpoint, but it also simplifies and streamlines the ordering process. Over time, both international and domestic Subway franchisees will be able to access, create and customize additional marketing pieces in a variety of formats with multiple HP imaging and printing solutions. “Just like our made-to-order sandwiches are a hit with our customers, our made-to-order menus are making a big impression with our franchise owners,” said Bill Schettini, chief marketing officer, Subway Restaurants. “The HP solution helps us meet our corporate mantra of better, faster, cheaper and gives restaurant owners the ability to customize their menu selections across 74 countries more effectively and efficiently than before while at the same time ensuring a consistent brand image through the world.” Subway is one of the fastest growing restaurant chains in the world with almost 20,000 restaurants in 74 countries. “It’s no surprise that a savvy company like Subway would embrace HP digital publishing solutions to get the most out of their marketing dollars,” said Bill McGlynn, vice president, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. “Success often requires challenging the status quo and we’re thrilled that Subway chose HP as a technology and marketing partner.”