For National Dog Day on 26 August running brand Saucony rolled out a comic social spot promoting its new Endorphin Collection which was themed around the idea that with these kicks you can finally run faster than your dog.
Created by agency Forsman & Bodenfors (F&B) and with a title that plays on the brand’s tagline ‘You But Faster…Than Your Dog’, the spot places a furry, four-legged friend (in the form of sheep dog) at the core of the creative. The ad starts with a three-repeat sequence of a runner heading out for a daily run with her dog and each time they return home it is the dog which arrives back triumphantly first.
But, on the fourth daily run, it is the owner who returns first – wearing a new pair of colourful Saucony sneakers of course – with the tired dog trailing in behind.
The ad was created under COVID-19 restrictions which saw the agency forced to change its production plans: the spot was shot and produced by remote teams.
According to F&B creative Johan Olivero, the idea was originally inspired by Saucony’s former Chief marketing Officer Don Lane.
“He said, ‘There’s a lot of bad in the world, can we inject some good?’ That was inspiring for us to find different things that Saucony could do to center on running and engage with different things in society and culture,” said Olivero.
“There’s a playbook in the performance running space,” commented Saucony President Anne Cavassa. “We’re 120 years old, but we’re one of the smaller brands and definitely a challenger. So we are looking for ways to be our authentic selves as runners, [share] the love of running, [determine] what that means to us and tell that a genuine, distinctive story.”
According to Cavassa, the brand will continue its strategy of ‘leaning in to purpose through its global “Run for Good” platform with initiatives spearheaded through its 15-year-old foundation which hosts events, partnerships and programming and acts as a call to action to consumers to use running as a platform to make the world a better place.
“We happen to be at a moment in time, particularly with Covid-19, where brands stand for something and speak out on the things that matter to them,” said Cavassa. “We’re doing a lot of little things that are changing our behavior and the way we operate to make ‘Run for Good’ something that is who we are over the long haul and shows the transformative power of running.”
The campaign was created for Saucony Chief Marketing Officer Don Lane, Senior Marketing Director Jessica Newton, Performance Brand Marketing Manager Jessica Rowe and Digital Marketing Manager Grace Smith by Forsman & Bodenfors NYC.
The agency team was included Creative Director/Copywriter Johan Olivero, Creative Director/Art Director Johan Eghammer, Copywriter Justin Cannon, Head of Production Kim Jose, Producer Laura Peguero, Business Affairs Director Matthew Friday, Account Director Elizabeth Asselin and Business Development Manager Alex Zadeii.
The production company was Greenpoint Pictures with Director Jesse Heath, Head of Production Karen Berkowitz, Executive Producer Tatiana Rudzinski and Line Producer Kennedy Davey.
Edit was handled by Greenpoint Pictures Producer Victoria Vallas and Editor Joe Walker, with colour run by The Mill Colourist Josh Bohoskey, with Sound Designer/Mixer Ben Freer and music from Eagle Blakk and Michael Isaac.
Comment:
This is a clever spin on a sneaker commercial and an accessible ad at that.
While most athletic brand advertising relies on high-energy montages, the pacing and tone are more down-to-earth and relatable.
Leading up to National Dog Day on Wednesday, who doesn’t love an ad with a trusty canine running partner?
Funnily enough, this is only our second favourite dog/running campaign in recent months. It is just edged out by Bratislava Marathon sponsor CSOB Bank’s ‘Marathon Dogs’ campaign which was based on the idea that it is easier to train for a marathon with a partner and saw the finance brand team up with the country’s largest dog shelter to offer a canine training solution for runners who don’t have a partner to run with.
At Activative the consensus is that Saucony’s marketers have themselves stepped up their performance in the last year or so and this silly, yet smart spot follows in the footsteps of some of its other stand out recent work such as its Super Bowl campaign earlier in 2020 (see case study).
The statistics looks positive too: in the highly competitive running specialty market, Saucony sits fourth in US market share behind Brooks, New Balance and Hoka, but ahead of Asics and footwear giant Nike.
Links:
Saucony
https://www.youtube.com/user/AtSauconyWeRun
https://www.instagram.com/saucony
Forsman & Bodenfors
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.