Saucony Shifts Strategy to Focus on Community and Connection

Model unity

Allen-Altimare, who joined Saucony in 2024, mentioned her precedence as CMO was to unify Saucony’s messaging.

For “Run as One,” the model turned to exterior research, spoke to native run golf equipment, and performed inner analysis to collect insights on its goal shoppers. It discovered that there’s been an uptick in loneliness since the pandemic and that individuals need to join with others over frequent pursuits, whether or not or not it’s by way of music, journey, or sports activities.

Saucony developed “Run as One” to bridge these findings.

“Our shoppers in the present day usually are not simply searching for run golf equipment, though we’ve seen a spike in that, we all know that [they] are additionally searching for this concept of connection and group,” Allen-Altimare mentioned. “Not simply displaying up and operating and going again dwelling, however displaying up and connecting with individuals.” 

To additional its push to foster group, Saucony will host a collection of run membership occasions around the globe, each in-person and just about, beginning in the present day (March 4). The model will even companion with native espresso retailers in cities like New York and Grand Rapids, Mich., later increasing to Boston, London, and different main cities worldwide.

The marketing campaign additionally displays the model’s work tradition.

Johnston mentioned that the brand new mantra has unified Saucony internally, creating “synergy” throughout its world product, gross sales, and distribution groups.

“We now have to stay and breathe that ethos as a lot as we imagine that the viewers and our shoppers [do] as nicely,” he mentioned.

Allen-Altimare added: “Having a marketing campaign that each internally unites us as a group round a central concept of how we need to present up as a model to shoppers is essential, but additionally to scale back any confusion [to consumers] about what the model stands for.”

“Run as One” can be ongoing. The CMO mentioned she is going to take a look at metrics like model well being, occasion turnouts, and direct-to-consumer and retail channel gross sales to tell future iterations of the marketing campaign.