The campaign and budget shift
On September 15, 2026, Marketing Dive reported the launch of Jersey Mike's Game Day Mike's Way campaign for the second year of its NFL partnership. The chain calls it its most integrated campaign: television is combined with online video, social and display formats, content creators and limited-edition merchandise. [1 · Marketing Dive · campaign and digital spending, September 15, 2026] [3 · NFL · partnership announcement with Jersey Mike’s, March 12, 2025]
On its first public earnings call, Jersey Mike's management said that digital channels' share of marketing spending had increased from less than 1% to more than 20% in the first half. The company links the shift to its goal of increasing brand awareness and usage among Gen Z, although the absolute budget was not specified. [1 · Marketing Dive · campaign and digital spending, September 15, 2026]
Results and data limitations
Jersey Mike's generated $208 million in second-quarter revenue, up 10% year over year; the digital share of sales rose from 41% to 43%. These are corporate metrics for the period, not an experiment on the new campaign. The financial reporting does not separate the impact of advertising from store openings, prices, demand and customers shifting from the counter to the app. [1 · Marketing Dive · campaign and digital spending, September 15, 2026] [2 · Jersey Mike’s · second-quarter 2026 results]
According to management, delivery accounts for nearly a fifth of sales, but the company's own delivery channel represents only 3%. The company sees an opportunity here to obtain more customer data. Customer acquisition cost (CAC), incremental orders, return on ad spend (ROAS), profit, repeat purchases and a control group were not disclosed. [1 · Marketing Dive · campaign and digital spending, September 15, 2026] [2 · Jersey Mike’s · second-quarter 2026 results]
Sources
- Marketing Dive · campaign and digital spending, September 15, 2026 — Main source for campaign details and management statements; no independent measurement of the effect is available.
- Jersey Mike’s · second-quarter 2026 results — Primary financial source for revenue and the digital share of sales; not a measurement of the new campaign.
- NFL · partnership announcement with Jersey Mike’s, March 12, 2025 — Primary source on the nature of the partnership; not evidence of the 2026 campaign’s effectiveness.
- Jersey Mike’s · official investor website — Background on the restaurant company.
- Gordon et al. · author version of the study, April 12, 2018 — Methodological background on differences between observational estimates and field experiments; not a study of Jersey Mike’s.
- Marketing Science · published paper, 2019 — Bibliographic verification of the study by Gordon, Zettelmeyer, Bhargava and Chapsky.
Expert commentary
The shift from less than 1% to more than 20% of the budget is a significant change in the allocation of funds, but not evidence of effectiveness. An integrated campaign can increase contact frequency and connect mass reach to orders, yet the same buyers may encounter multiple channels. Without an experiment, those channels cannot be treated as independent sources of the result. [1 · Marketing Dive · campaign and digital spending, September 15, 2026]
The increase in digital sales' share from 41% to 43% allows different explanations. It could reflect new demand, or it could be a transfer of existing orders from the counter to the app. An economic benefit arises only when incremental orders and margin exceed advertising, discounts, delivery commissions and technology expenses; the published figures do not provide that calculation. [1 · Marketing Dive · campaign and digital spending, September 15, 2026] [2 · Jersey Mike’s · second-quarter 2026 results]
Gordon and coauthors' field experiments do not concern Jersey Mike's, but show why observational attribution can diverge from a causal effect. Comparable areas with different advertising intensity, a predefined control and uniform pricing would be useful for the current campaign. The primary outcome is incremental profit after costs, not attributed revenue. [5 · Gordon et al. · author version of the study, April 12, 2018] [6 · Marketing Science · published paper, 2019]
Proprietary delivery can give the chain a more complete picture of orders and repeat purchases, but customers care about convenience and choice. Trying to move the audience away from intermediaries too quickly can add friction. It is therefore worth comparing not only the proprietary channel's share, but also ordering time, cart abandonment, complaints and repeat orders without a new coupon. [1 · Marketing Dive · campaign and digital spending, September 15, 2026] [2 · Jersey Mike’s · second-quarter 2026 results]
For relationship marketing, the period after the football campaign matters. After 30–90 days, the company should check whether new customers return, use the loyalty program and churn less. If the digital share grows only while media support is running, a brief channel shift is more likely; sustained returns would make a stronger case for customer value. [1 · Marketing Dive · campaign and digital spending, September 15, 2026] [2 · Jersey Mike’s · second-quarter 2026 results]
For competitors, this case indicates a direction, not a ready-made spending benchmark: the budget share depends on awareness, geography and the maturity of owned channels. The conditional forecast is that Jersey Mike's will continue to expand targeted communications if it can connect advertising with repeat purchases. Observable evidence would include disclosure of incremental profit, retention and the share of orders through its own channels. Until then, the larger digital budget remains an input, not an outcome. [1 · Marketing Dive · campaign and digital spending, September 15, 2026] [2 · Jersey Mike’s · second-quarter 2026 results]