• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, September 8, 2014

Boston-based agency Mechanica has been named U.S. agency of record for Saucony, the running footwear and apparel company that is also based in Boston.

The selection came without a formal review. Olson of Minneapolis was the incumbent and was not invited to defend the account, which it won in 2012. Mechanica had previously handled creative advertising duties for the client before Olson.

Mechanica will be responsible for all U.S.-based communications activities for Saucony, including creative advertising, media planning and buying, branding, events, digital and design.

“Our ‘Second Run’ with Mechanica couldn’t come at a more important time,” said Richie Woodworth, President of Saucony. “When we last worked together, the combination of Saucony’s innovative product line and unwavering commitment to runners, combined with Mechanica’s incredibly collaborative and expansive creative approach, created an unbeatable combination. Together we created the ‘Find Your Strong’ creative platform that allowed Saucony to connect and engage with their consumer in a deeper and more emotional way, serving as a powerful growth catalyst.”

“As we think about our second stage of growth,” added Woodworth, “and confront the challenges of a category that has slowed for the first time since 2008, we couldn’t imagine a partner better suited to help us breakthrough this category inertia to discover how high is up.”

Saucony spent about $4.2 million on ads in 2013 according to Kantar.

“Clients and agencies reuniting is a very unusual event,” said Ted Nelson, CEO at Mechanica. “Saucony is a fundamentally different kind of company in their space. They are seeking to redefine what is possible for both runners and the running marketplace, and this requires a fundamentally different kind of agency partnership, which is what we’ve built Mechanica to be.”