Saucony, a global performance running lifestyle brand, announced the official launch of The Marathumb Challenge, a first-of-its-kind branded experience designed to help users outpace doom scrolling with physical steps.
Saucony is passionate about helping everyone get outside and move their feet. Understanding that life tends to get in the way, the brand partnered with market research company HarrisX to survey more than 1,000 Americans on how technology impacts their ability to enjoy the great outdoors. An eye-opening insight came to the forefront: The average person scrolls on their phone the distance of three marathons a year, equating to seventy-eight miles.
With over 60% of Americans now reporting that their daily smartphone usage has increased year over year, Saucony proposes a simple alternative: Put down your phone and lace up with The Marathumb Challenge.
The Marathumb Challenge is a branded experience that measures the distance users scroll and pits it against the number of steps taken each day/week. For Android users, the platform uses a proprietary formula to pull metrics on screen time and actively compares scrolling distance to stepping distance for a real time view into how you’re stacking up. For iOS users, the platform compares your steps to the average national distance scrolled per day/week.
The first weekly challenge will kick off on Monday, January 22 and will continue for six weeks. With each new Marathumb Challenge, if a user moves farther than they scroll, rewards in the form of Saucony-branded merchandise will be theirs for the taking. Within the platform, users can track their daily and weekly progress, check out past wins and motivate others by sharing completed challenges on their social media channels, tagging Saucony.
“With Americans scrolling the distance of three marathons a year on their smartphones, we’ve identified a fun and creative opportunity to challenge consumers to move their feet more than their feed,” said Rob Griffiths, the president of Saucony Brand in a statement. “The launch of the Marathumb Challenge underscores Saucony’s belief in the transformational power of movement, and we look forward to continuing to encourage everyone to live a better life by shifting the balance between screen time and step time.”
The Marathumb Challenge platform is available for both iOS and Android users and can be downloaded via the Apple Store or Google Play for free. For additional information, follow Saucony on Facebook and Instagram.
