New Balance launches global brand platform in latest move to catch up to Nike

“Always in Beta” is a promise by New Balance to “relentlessly improve” and “strive for more” as well as focus on inspiring both professional and everyday athletes globally, according to the brand.

It will kick off in the UK on 15 August with a TV, VOD, social and print campaign targeted at health and fitness consumers as well as through an online “Beta Hub” featuring the campaign’s featured athletes.

The ad, titled “The Storm”, was filmed across four continents over four weeks and features global athletes including Miguel Cabrera, Milos Raonic and Aaron Ramsey.

Bid to be top three athletic brand

It will introduce the new platform while also highlighting the brand’s recent innovations, such as its Vazee running footwear, Made for Movement apparel collection and the launch of its first football footwear range which it introduced last month.

The new platform is the latest in a line of efforts by New Balance since it announced an ambition in March to become a “top three global athletic brand” after taking over as official kit supplier for Liverpool Football Club.

Having originally entered the soccer arena when it bought Warrior in 2004, the company also launched its first soccer business under the New Balance brand in February.

Nike looks to inspire

 

Meanwhile, rival Nike has introduced a new campaign titled “Find Your Fast” which brings together some of the world’s fastest athletes such as Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Michael Johnson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Kobe Bryant to challenges consumers to “run their fastest mile”.

The TV spot kicks off today alongside a number of short films featuring the athletes in a move to showcase the brand’s running shoes, such as the Nike Air Zoom Elite 8.

The brand is also pushing consumers to join its Nike+ community by launching a 12-week fitness challenge designed for the Nike+ Training Club app to help users improve their speed.

Speaking on the campaign, Adam Roth, Nike VP of global running brand marketing, said: “Our Find Your Fast campaign provides all the inspiration, innovation and enablement athletes need to run, train and play faster across our physical products, digital apps and live experiences.  It’s the entire Find Your Fast eco-system that’s game-changing, not just for us but for the athletes we serve.”

The campaign will culminate on 30 August when the brand will challenge consumers to run their fastest mile at the same time as top athletes will compete in the World Track and Field Championships in Beijing.

New Balance vs Nike

Nike announced last week that its revenues rose by 13% to $7.8bn in its fourth quarter, ignoring currency fluctuations. Revenues for its fiscal 2015 year increased by 14% to $30.6bn.

Its Western Europe revenues also grew by 17% in the quarter and 21% over the year thanks not only to the women’s category but also to the company’s sportswear and running businesses, with the UK cited as one of its most successful markets.

While New Balance does not release its financial results, recent brand tracking data suggests it’s on the right track on its path to catch up with Nike.

According to YouGov’s “purchase consideration” metric, which measures whether a respondent would think about buying a particular brand’s products, the brand’s score, currently 9.8, has grown steadily since the Liverpool announcement

Its score is even higher among football followers and participants (11) and among those who have bought sports equipment in the last 12 months (17).

Speaking on the launch of the new platform, Rob DeMartini, President and CEO at New Balance, said: “It highlights our commitment to not rest on past successes, but be dedicated in our focus to continually push forward, to improve and aggressively deliver our best.”