Expanding Saucony Canada's digital footprint: Blending the history of the world's oldest running brand with the unique experiences of Canadian runners

In 2016, Saucony Canada needed to raise awareness of its new e-commerce site, saucony.ca, and engage runners nationwide. Despite being North America's oldest running brand, local recognition lagged behind competitors like Brooks, Asics, and Nike. Regional social channels existed, but without tailored content, they failed to connect with Canadian runners, resulting in stagnant audience growth.

Since then, Saucony Canada has faced challenges with engaging communities online and offline as the industry shifts to a younger audience, competing for attention with both internationally recognized sports brands and more niche boutique running brands.

To grow brand awareness with a new online audience and connect with the increasing number of run club participants at local retailers, Patio identified uniquely Canadian running experiences and challenges that would resonate with Canadian runners by highlighting local events, race sponsorships, and engaging loyal fans. Patio worked closely with the national field marketing team to further integrate offline and online experiences through contests and challenges:

• Patio launched the #Run150 campaign, approved by the Canadian government for the 150th anniversary of Confederation, showcasing iconic running routes and encouraging Canadians to share their favorite trails.
• Recognizing the gap in winter running marketing that was not being addressed by the global brand, Patio also launched the #WeAreWinterWarriors campaign to engage Canadian runners during colder months, traditionally a low-engagement period. The campaign combined offline (run meetups) and online (social contests) elements, resonating with runners and retailers alike.
• To address market share concerns from retailers after the saucony.ca e-commerce launch, Patio created the My Run Shop campaign, showcasing local running legends on social media and in Canadian Running magazine. Retailer feedback praised this unique support, helping to maintain Saucony's presence in local run specialty shops.

Patio also saw the opportunity to recruit loyal and engaged fans to become brand ambassadors, ensuring ongoing Canadian-specific content and representation at key events. This successful program evolved and continues today as the official Ambassador Program, fully managed by Patio, creating authentic representation and championing of the brand in running spaces across the country. Ambassador content is consistently amongst the most engaging social content, and has often been featured on Saucony's global social channels.

After several successful years of planning social campaigns that resonate with Canadian runners while also complementing ongoing global brand campaigns, our role has been expanded to include ambassador program management, digital advertising, and at times, event planning & management. The Patio team has become integral to the internal Saucony Canada marketing team in reaching the Canadian running community.

In 2021-2022, Patio managed Saucony Canada’s digital media planning for key product launches, focusing on brand and product awareness, with website traffic as the primary goal. After exceeding expectations in Q3 2022, Patio was brought in to help the Saucony e-commerce team shift focus from product-specific traffic to broader brand and user engagement.