Why Teva is turning to Strava to reintroduce itself to customers

Teva hopes Strava will help it better reach its existing community, as it has “a lot of fans already using the platform,” Sarah Carter, director of global brand marketing for Teva, told Modern Retail. More broadly, Teva aims to use Strava to reintroduce itself to runners, campers, kayakers and hikers who may think of Teva as just a water shoe company. While Teva started in the 1980s with a flip-flop with Velcro straps, it’s since branched out into hiking boots, running sandals and sports slides.

Teva thus views its new marketing campaign as a “reset” as it works to “get back [to] building gear for adventurers,” Lee Cox, global vp and gm of Teva, told Modern Retail. The brand, now in its 41st year in business, particularly hopes Strava can help with this goal. “As someone who uses Strava, it’s an authenticator,” Cox said. “For those who may see Teva in a different lens, it reintroduces the brand in a space it originated in.”

This will be especially important for Teva as it tries to build sales in an increasingly-crowded footwear space. In January, Deckers reported that Teva suffered a 6% drop in year-over-year sales for its third fiscal quarter of 2025. Meanwhile, Teva’s net sales for its full 2024 year decreased 18.9% year over year to $148.5 million, down from $183.1 million.

Teva’s campaign goes live this week and, in addition to Strava, includes out-of-home ads, as well as upcoming activations in North Carolina and Virginia. It marks a departure from Teva’s previous campaigns, which were more digital-focused, said Carter. “We’re trying to diversify away from being so heavily invested in Facebook and Instagram,” she said. “Rounding out our marketing mix is a big focus for us this year.”

Teva isn’t the first brand to use Strava to reach its targeted demographic “in real life.” Other outdoors brands, including Camelbak and Hoka, have sponsored races and given merchandise and discounts to those who run or bike a certain distance in a certain time. Chipotle, too, sponsored a challenge in 25 cities, giving free entrees to residents who ran designated courses the most. Speaking to Modern Retail last year, Strava for Business director Evelina Jarbin noted that brands have shown more interest in hosting challenges over the past couple of years.

Teva, however, is not sponsoring challenges for now. Its biggest focus, Carter said, is using the app’s social feed as a community engagement tool. It wants its athletes — which include kayakers Dane Jackson and Evy Leibfarth, fly-fisher Shyanne Orvis, and ultra-marathoner Mike Wardian — to “encourage our fans,” said Carter. “We’ll send them products that haven’t hit the market, … and they’ll show what it’s like to test and build a new style for Teva.”

Jeremy Ekes, senior director of client strategy and services at the marketing agency January Digital, told Modern Retail that Strava allows brands to tap into niche audiences. “It’s a smart way to build brand connection beyond just another ad,” he said. “More brands should lean into relevance and engagement like this.”

There are, however, some difficulties in using Strava as a marketing tool, Ekes pointed out. Chief among these is the ability to figure out a campaign’s impact on revenue and customer acquisition, as Strava offers fewer measurement capabilities compared to, say, Google or Meta. (Teva told Modern Retail that it is not having its athletes sell products through Strava or use affiliate codes of any type.)

Still, Ekes emphasized that “effectiveness isn’t just about immediate metrics.” It’s also about long-term brand impact, he said. Teva did its homework by using an app its customers use, Ekes said, and that can pay off over time. “Embracing contextually relevant marketing — even if it means sacrificing some measurement or control — can be a smart move,” he said.