Saucony campaign challenges people to run as far as they scroll /

It’s in the frame / Encouraging a break from doom scrolling, the Marathumb Challenge reframes running as an invigorating escape, rather than a chore necessary for health.

Instead of resorting to rational discussions about the health benefits of physical activity to connect with those less inclined to exercise – which would be boring and ineffective: people already know moving is good for you, lack of exercise is not due to ignorance – Saucony offers an emotive incentive and presents a fun challenge that is shareable on social media. This approach caters to a wide audience that goes beyond regular runners as it gamifies exercise, enticing people who might not already run to incorporate physical activity into their routine. And who knows, amateur runners who decide to take up the challenge might just opt for a pair of Saucony’s new Ride 17 Sneakers to help them get started.

What’s more, the campaign encourages people to download an app, getting them to spend time with the brand and to share their details, which Saucony can then use to market its gear directly to running neophytes.

‘The brilliance of this campaign is in how simply and directly it taps into a powerful strategic insight, that people should spend more time moving and less time scrolling,’ Kathryn Pratt told us. ‘When our research revealed that people scroll over 78 miles a year, three full marathons, we had to create The Marathumb Challenge.’

Timing is everything / The campaign, aptly timed a few weeks after the wave of New Year’s resolutions, serves as a nod to the popular goals to be healthier in the new year (over half of resolutions are about working out more, according to a 2020 YouGov poll). This timing enhances the campaign’s resonance by tapping into the momentum of personal resolutions. At the same time, launching towards the end of January allows it to avoid getting lost in all the ‘new year, new me’ noise. 

We’ve covered other campaigns that aligned with this key moment and fuelled people’s newfound appetite for exercise to appear motivational and encourage interactions with the brand. In January 2023, French TV channel Canal Plus allowed people to unlock free streaming content by completing physical challenges on its app. Similarly, Saucony used timing to its advantage, making its campaign the reminder people needed of the resolutions they committed to just a few weeks prior.

Free pass / It’s no secret that we’re all spending too much time on our phones, with over 60% of Americans estimating that their daily phone use has risen compared to the previous year according to HarrisX. This trend contributes to reduced physical activity and subsequent health issues as screens replace exercise in homes worldwide, as reported by WHO in its report on screen time in adolescents.  

The Marathumb Challenge is eminently appealing as it eases people’s guilt around their use of social media. This is because it plays into our licensing bias, which is the idea that we excuse bad or indulgent behaviour if we’ve done something good that we feel counteracts our bad action. The initiative empowers individuals to engage in guilt-free scrolling by cleverly intertwining a sense of reward with the challenge, fostering positive associations with Saucony.  Plus, rewarding those who run more than they scroll with branded merchandise is a neat way of incentivising people to keep running with the brand.