Saucony’s New CMO Says Understanding Culture is Key To Lifestyle Push

Where competitors like Asics and New Balance have found success in striking a balance between their performance wear and streetwear offerings, Saucony is finding its footing with the latter, under the direction of new global chief marketing officer (CMO) Joy Allen-Altimare. Since joining the 126 year-old footwear brand in June, Allen-Altimare has forged partnerships that speak to its running heritage while claiming its place in modern streetwear culture. Last month, Saucony launched its first shoe collaboration with Black Girls Run! (BGR), a run club created to encourage Black women to adopt healthy lifestyles. It’s also on its third collab with Bronx artist Jae Tips, and most recently unveiled a partnership with Buffalo rapper Westside Gunn. The push into lifestyle comes as Saucony's sales decreased by 28% year-over-year in Q2,and as newer running brands like On and Hoka are carving their own lanes in the industry and snagging market share from legacy brands. Allen-Altimare,who has heldmarketing roles at Kindbody, Havas Media Network, EHE Healthand more, believes that sharpening Saucony's understanding of consumers will be key to expanding into a lifestyle brand -- and getting back to growth. “That’s what I want to do more [of] for Saucony: explain to people that we’re not just showing up because it’s on trend, but we inherently understand culture,” she told ADWEEK. “We don’t want to bastardize culture for our own gain." ADWEEK connected with Allen-Altimare at Blackweek to discuss her new role, her advice to fellow marketers, and the challenges of working in footwear. Joy Allen-Altimare (left) and Shannon Sharpe at Blackweek. ADWEEK: When you were hired, you said you were focused on building a “consumer-obsessed brand.” What are some ways you’ve been doing that over the last four months?Allen-Altimare: Some of my peers in the category, you can see where they’re just signing up their money to reach a consumer versus actually being obsessed about what makes a consumer move [and] what makes a consumer engage in your product. I think that’s the difference between good brands and great brands. The only way that feels authentic is to put [consumers] first and show up in authentic ways where they already are, versus trying to force them to come to [us]. It's also being able to say, ‘This is not the right place for Saucony.’ When you’re being consumer-obsessed, you think through that: ‘Am I going to sacrifice long-term gains for this short-term moment of showing up and saying I was there?' How are you maintaining Saucony's heritage as a performance wear brand while moving into lifestyle and streetwear?Saucony is the original running shoe [and] we’re never not going to be that. While we are going after lifestyle in a more confident way, we’re not forgetting our heritage in [running]. That’s what made us a company. Even the Jae Tips collab, or any other collaboration that we’re doing, every shoe we create in that space sits on the structure of a performance shoe. We’re seeing streetwear become more popular, and some of our peers are just putting out shoes and showing up at run crews or at culture moments. Saucony has always [told] a bigger story. I always use this example: Saucony created a [breakdancing] shoe in 2005 with the Floorlords in Boston. This Olympics, everybody was talking about breaking, and everyone was [making] a breaking shoe. [After a colleague shared the history], I said, ‘That’s the story that we need to tell that provides authenticity and authority for us to be in this space.’ What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned or challenge you've faced since joining Saucony?Mostly everyone has more years of footwear experience [than me]. My boss has 40 years of footwear experience and my team, although they’re very young, they’ve only worked in footwear. There’s good and bad with that. They understand uniquely how a product is developed, but they’re so myopic in their viewpoint, because they only come from footwear. I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned is to be patient with myself, because I want to understand the category, but also be patient with them. This is still a retail business, but we also are living in a D2C ecosystem, so [I’m] balancing both of those. How are we going to coordinate this in a way that doesn’t cannibalize our relationships, but also doesn’t leave us stagnant? You spoke with Shannon Sharpe at Blackweek about the growth of Black-hosted talk shows, podcasters and pundits. Are there any creators or influencers that you want to work with?I personally am looking for the creator that goes beyond the soundbite. There’s so much noise. There’s so many people doing amateur podcasts or Instagram Lives everyday. I’m looking for someone who is passionate about the things we stand for at Saucony. I’m looking for female creators, particularly of color. I think that voice is understated universally, but shows up more in beauty and hair. There’s so many beautiful athletes [and] culture creators that I would love to shine [a light] on. Why do you think an event like Blackweek is so important and timely for the industry right now?On a personal level, I’ve never felt so much joy. I’ve been in this industry for almost 26 years. I remember moving to New York City when I was 24 [or] 25… I bounced between both the general market and the African-American niche agency world. It’s so great to see the people that I grew up with in the industry, and we are happy, healthy, and still passionate about making change. On a professional level, I love that we have Blackweek, but it also reminds me that we had to create it because we don’t have a safe space to show up [at] Advertising Week. It’s a bittersweet moment, because I love it…but there’s so much more work to be done. You’ve moved from CMO roles into chief revenue officer (CRO) roles, then back to the agency and brand side. What is one piece of advice you’d offer to marketers who are unsure of their next move?If you are unsure of your next move, you have to get sure. You have to do your own audit of what you like to do, where you see yourself, [and] where the gaps are in your learning. I came up through advertising; I didn’t come the traditional CMO way, through business school and working at a CPG company. So the biggest gap I had a decade ago was [understanding] the backend building of a product from a financial perspective. I had to get smart on that. You have to do that self-evaluation first. You have to have confidence when you go there and present yourself. If you’re unsure, it’s going to read like that.

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Saucony’s New CMO Says Understanding Culture is Key To Lifestyle Push

Joy Allen-Altimare shares how she is pushing the performance footwear brand deeper into culture while maintaining its heritage

Cydney Lee

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Cydney Lee