Brand unity

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

For “Run as One,” the brand turned to external studies, spoke to local run clubs, and conducted internal research to gather insights on its target consumers. It found that there’s been an uptick in loneliness since the pandemic and that people are looking to connect with others over common interests, whether it be through music, travel, or sports.

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

“Our consumers today are not just looking for run clubs, although we’ve seen a spike in that, we know that [they] are also looking for this idea of connection and community,” Allen-Altimare said. “Not just showing up and running and going back home, but showing up and connecting with people.” 

To further its push to foster community, Saucony will host a series of run club events around the world, both in-person and virtually, starting today (March 4). The brand will also partner with local coffee shops in cities like New York and Grand Rapids, Mich., later expanding to Boston, London, and other major cities worldwide.

The campaign also reflects the brand’s work culture.

Johnston said that the new mantra has unified Saucony internally, creating “synergy” across its global product, sales, and distribution teams.

“We have to live and breathe that ethos as much as we believe that the audience and our consumers [do] as well,” he said.

Allen-Altimare added: “Having a campaign that both internally unites us as a team around a central idea of how we want to show up as a brand to consumers is important, but also to reduce any confusion [to consumers] about what the brand stands for.”

“Run as One” will be ongoing. The CMO said she will look at metrics like brand health, event turnouts, and direct-to-consumer and retail channel sales to inform future iterations of the campaign.