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Case study: Shoe brand Saucony on why employing new content strategies pays off

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By David Hunstone, Chief executive officer and director

August 14, 2019 | 4 min read

American athletic shoe brand, Saucony, is synonymous among serious runners with quality running shoes and apparel. Hub were brought on board to help launch the brand's new collection, White Noise, which celebrates the meditative effects of running.

The campaign - which included video content, a first for the company - would be pushed out on their website and through various social media platforms. Other assets include a set of studio-based product videos, two live action commercials, and a series of photographs.

Background

Saucony was known in professional and dedicated running circles, however it wanted to break into more casual markets. Which is why the brand approached Hub, to help elevate its White Noise collection. The latest running shoes were designed to appeal to occasional and inexperienced runners as well as existing Saucony consumers. The shoes contain some of the same features seen in Saucony’s technical ranges, but were fashioned into a more minimalistic design.

Through focusing on the lifestyle benefits gained from running, Saucony was able to attract a new consumer group. The brand's team believed that by creating more runners, they could sell more running shoes. It specifically wanted to target individuals who live in stressful urban environments and want to escape modern life. This campaign needed to focus on more than just the shoes.

Hub helped Saucony promote the lifestyle benefits of running.

Strategy

This job was an extremely mobile production. Shot over three days across multiple London locations, a camera was mounted atop a rickshaw on an electronic three-axis Ronin Gimbel, guarded by runners as it moved throughout the city.

It was this content that made up the campaign's hero content. Short, fast-paced snippets that communicated the White Noise philosophy were obtained. Two primary full-length 60 second films were produced, which were subsequently cut down into six short pieces of social content (three for each film) and eight gifs.

Hub developed a treatment for a second live action commercial, to match the campaign’s aim of engaging with a broader and more varied customer base across a number of social platforms. There were many benefits to creating different types of content, such as being able to customise the messages used to target audiences and tailor it to the distribution method; extend the campaign’s lifespan as content could be drip-fed over time; and be able to access new content for retargeting purposes.

Hub developed a treatment for a second live action commercial.

Process

Six pairs of shoes were used for films of three formats, 16:9, 1:1 & 9:6. These were then translated into four languages. A total of 90 films and 20 gifs were created.

The photoshoot was captured across London in a day and the photos used to populate Saucony's main website, the print campaign and the brand's social channels.

Saucony staged a release for the White Campaign on May 21st 2018, when the first hero film and two product films were launched. The campaign immediately increased Saucony's website visits by 26% when compared with 2017.

The full campaign was then rolled out over the summer, with content being released until September 2018, with the brand expecting website traffic to continue increasing.

To learn more about Hub’s projects click here.

David Hunstone, CEO and director of content at Hub.

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