Forget driving home for Christmas—Saucony wants people to “Run Home for the Holidays.”
The Michigan-headquartered brand’s seasonal campaign, a collaboration between its in-house team, The Agency and creative shop Chivalry Creative, reframes running not as a solo performance but as an act of presence and, sometimes, even an emotional gesture.
Short 15- and 30-second vignettes are at the heart of the push, capturing moments like friends taking off their sneakers as they arrive for a cosy dinner party, or a man running to meet a loved one laden with a stack of carefully wrapped gifts.
Spanning CTV, Meta video, and paid social placements across Meta, Snap, and TikTok globally, these videos will be supported by static, display, and native placements. The ads were shot by photographer Nayquan Shuler and directed by Mowgly Lee.
The campaign evolves Saucony’s positioning beyond performance into presence and emotional resonance. This builds on its March creative overhaul, when chief marketing officer Joy Allen-Altimare unveiled the brand’s new ethos, “Run as One.” The new mission positions running as a way to connect with others, informed by external studies and conversations with running clubs in the U.S.
Since its launch, the unified platform has ignited a 46% surge in branded search queries, lifted brand awareness by 12%, and increased purchase consideration by 18% across key markets, Saucony told ADWEEK. In October, the Wolverine World Wide-owned brand posted a 41.5% year-over-year revenue increase.
For Saucony’s creative director, Gus Johnston, everything the brand does is now tied to this idea of connection and community, underpinned by performance.
“It’s about calling people to come together and unite around a shared sense of movement and direction,” he told ADWEEK. “The holiday period is a universal moment for pause and for connection.”
Beyond purpose, products feature heavily in the campaigns, including new silhouettes like the Elite 2, Ride Millennium, and Guide 18.
“Yes, there’s a brand narrative, but it’s also about our shoes,” said Johnston. “That’s the reason we exist, and it’s part of our story,” he added, saying there was a real “practical and functional” element built into the warm holiday campaign.
