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1

What is Saucony?

Saucony, Inc., a subsidiary of
Collective Brands, Inc., is a leading global supplier of performance athletic footwear and apparel with its widely recognized brands Saucony and Saucony Originals.
Brief History and Market Position (profile)
Saucony Inc. (under the corporate umbrella of Hyde Athletic Industries, Inc. until 1998 when Hyde reorganized and took the Saucony name), is known primarily as a designer, manufacturer, and marketer of high performance running shoes, in particular for marathon runners and triathletes
Saucony slowly gained market shares in 1970’s and 1980’s. It struggled in
1990’s because Hyde could not approach the sales levels of the big players in the field of athletic footwear. Especially Nike due to fact that they had just started the lucrative Michael Jordan shoe franchise. In late 1990’s, company turned around after price stayed the same for five years. Stock prices more than triple. In 2000, its products were available in 23 foreign countries and in over 5,500 retail outlets in the United States.
Saucony Incorporated's family of companies offers a wide range of technical products for every workout need. We design and market separate lines for men and women within most technical footwear categories. In keeping with our emphasis on performance, we market and sell our technical footwear to athletes who have a high participation rate in their sport of choice. We address this market through our 'Loyal to the Sport' advertising campaign.
We believe that these consumers are more brand loyal than those who buy athletic footwear for casual use. The Saucony brand is recognized for its technical innovation and performance. As a result of our application of biomechanical technology in the design process, we believe that our Saucony footwear has a distinctive `fit and feel' that is attractive to athletic users. We design our Saucony technical cross training, women's walking and outdoor technical trail shoes with many of the same performance features and `fit and feel' characteristics as are found in Saucony technical running shoes.

2

Who does Saucony sell to?

Market
In general, Saucony’s popular market is the elite running community. Some of its positive features are high level technological advancements (leading to a high price) and a large variety in specified products. Hence, its target market is high end, financially successful older recreational athletes and elite young athletes looking for new successful technology. Models
Featured below are successful models of shoes sold online.
Men’s Guide 7 (Sleek design as well as high quality to make this shoe light and fast to runners delight)

Men Cortana 3 (With supportive cushion on the bottom of your shoes to make a comfortable feel, this shoe is the ideal dream shoes for runner)

Men Virrata (Incredibly lightweight, supportive, and makes it feel like nothing’s on you feet)

Distribution
Saucony sells its merchandise at Dicks Sporting Goods, Sports Authority,
Amazon, Foot Locker, Nordstrom, Famous Footwear, Overstock and
Marshalls.

3

Who can Saucony partner with?

Past Partnerships
Saucony sponsors Trevor Wortele
(Ironman champ), Luke McKenzie
(World Ironman second place) and many more elite athletes

Saucony+Competitor group:

Community Support: Boston marathon bombing support

4

Potential Reactions to Saucony
Positive

Negative

Selling Saucony products as a retailer would increase the profit margin of the company OR lead to a team sponsorship discount (Track and
Cross Country teams) that would lead to higher membership rates.

The company would be wary to purchase and retail such an expensive product. This is a high risk. High tech marketing strategies would improve the company’s sales to higher end customers.

With Nike and Adidas currently dominating the sporting good world,
Saucony stands as the underdog in the competition.

Saucony sells high tech, high quality
products