Saucony’s Influencer Marketing Campaign Let The Oatmeal Lead

One of the more memorable video campaigns of 2015 has been Saucony’s Seeker Stories, a series of brief films featuring a cross-section of influential people who are also runners. The campaign has hit a new high this week with the release of content co-created with internet celebrity The Oatmeal. In a couple of minutes, Seeker Stories captures the subject’s life, what running means to the influencer they are featuring, and how it ties to Saucony’s “Find Your Strong” brand message.

While the Saucony series has included people most would expect to be runners like Caballo Blanco and UK footballer Mark Logan, the the latest film pushes the campaign more deeply into influencer marketing because of the clearly collaborative nature of the content itself and the new audience that a quirky, decidedly non-sports personality can bring to the brand.

The Oatmeal (real name: Matthew Inman) is a creator of irreverent cartoons and card games that are birthed out of his skewed perspective on life. His video hilarious tells his life story and why he runs with the trademark style from his cartoons and wacky game, Exploding Kittens (itself a Kickstarter sensation of epic proportions).

In collaborating with him on this Seeker Story, Saucony has clearly let Inman’s style of storytelling dominate the video and yet it still gets to the “Find Your Strong” message in a powerful way. As a result, Saucony delivers on their desire to define the character of their brand and connect with The Oatmeal’s built-in audience without threatening the genuine feel his work.

As Rebecca Markarian, SVP of Digital & Social Media at Ayzenberg notes, “This content is a perfect marriage of what the Oatmeal does with a brand that understands they need to build something that is just plain fun to watch. It’s influencer marketing at its best because there is clear collaboration with the creator to ensure the authenticity of the content while tying it organically to the brand’s goals.”

How can you find the right influencers to connect with your brand goals? Contact ION for more details about finding your Brand Soulmate and launching a successful influencer marketing campaign.