byLarry Eder
Saucony has announced its sponsorship of the Seattle Marathon, one of the two oldest marathons on the West Coast ( I believe the the oldest is Culver City, but one of our
gentle readers will send us that us that info).
Saucony is one of the premier performance brands in the sport of running, and like its
competitors, in front of the brand and behind, sponsoring races makes great sense. It is
a perfect way to highlight local dealers, communicate with the local running community, and
if you are really smart, do market research.
Running continues to grow, in youth performance, core running, fitness and beginning running!
The numbers speak for themselves. The lesson though, for race directors is to find health management companies, HMOs ,Hospitals to help provide services for their events. Footwear companies are hit on all sides (we estimate $100 million in athlete, event support by
the major brands in US in 2010), and they are sponsoring events because it is good, short term and long term, for a brand that desires to resonate in the running community.
Saucony Announces Sponsorship of Seattle Marathon
Brand commits to four-year partnership
as exclusive footwear and apparel sponsor
LEXINGTON,
MA (August 17, 2010) – Saucony,
Inc,
a leading global supplier of performance athletic footwear and apparel, today
announced its four-year exclusive footwear and apparel sponsorship of the Seattle Marathon. The
2010 race, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Seattle Marathon, takes
place Sunday, November 28th at the historic Seattle
Center
in downtown Seattle.
The Seattle Marathon family of events includes the Marathon Run, Marathon Walk,
Half Marathon Run, Half Marathon Walk, 5K, and Kids’ Marathon.
“The Seattle Marathon is a not only a Northwest tradition but one
of the premier running events in the region,” said Mark Bossardet, vice
president of sports marketing for Saucony. “This partnership underlines our
continued commitment to the Pacific
Northwest running community and allows us to
come together to celebrate 40 years of great distance running. We’re
confident that together, we will take this event to an entirely new
level.”
As part of its sponsorship activation strategy, the brand will provide
all of the marathon and half marathon participants with a long-sleeve Saucony technical
fabric race shirt. Volunteers for the event will also be outfitted in Saucony apparel,
as well as footwear.
“The Seattle Marathon
has been growing strong for 40 years thanks to the support of devoted volunteers,
runners and sponsors,” said Louise Long, Seattle Marathon race director.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Saucony as our official footwear and
apparel sponsor and look forward to inspiring even more runners to experience
this classic event.”
The Seattle Marathon, one of
the two oldest marathons on the west coast, is USATF and AIMS (Association of
International Marathons and Distance Races) certified and is a Boston Marathon
qualifier.
For
more information, please contact Sharon Barbano at Saucony (617-824-6126) or sharon.barbano@saucony.com or
Jeff Lawrence at Mullen (617-226-9945) or jeff.lawrence@mullen.com.
About Saucony, Inc.:
Saucony, Inc., a subsidiary of Collective Brands, Inc., is a leading global
running lifestyle brand that fuses performance, innovation and style to create
compelling footwear and apparel with its widely recognized brands Saucony and
Saucony Originals. Founded in 1898, Saucony continues to inspire runners
everywhere with its award winning innovations, including Flexion Plateâ„¢,
ProGrid™, Arch-Lock®, and ViZiPRO™ apparel. For more information,
go to www.saucony.com.
About
Collective Brands, Inc.: Collective Brands, Inc.
(NYSE: PSS) is a leader in
bringing compelling lifestyle, fashion and performance brands for footwear and
related accessories to consumers worldwide. The company operates three
strategic units covering a powerful brand portfolio, as well as multiple price
points and selling channels including retail, wholesale, ecommerce and
licensing. Collective Brands, Inc. includes Payless ShoeSource, focused on
democratizing fashion and design in footwear and accessories through its nearly
4,500-store retail chain, with its brands Airwalk®, Dexter®, Champion®, Zoe
& Zacâ„¢, the first-ever affordable green footwear brand, and designer
collections Lela Rose for Payless, Unforgettable Moments by Lela Rose,
Christian Siriano for Payless and STLP x Airwalk, among others; Collective
Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group, focused on lifestyle and performance
branded footwear and high-quality children’s footwear sold primarily
through wholesaling, with its brands including Stride Rite®, Keds®,
Sperry Top-Sider®, Robeez®, and Saucony®, among others; and Collective
Licensing International, the brand development, management and global licensing
unit, with such youth lifestyle brands as Airwalk®, Vision Street Wear®, Sims®,
Lamar® and LTD®. Information
about, and links for shopping on, each of the Collective Brand’s units
can be found at www.collectivebrands.com.
