New Balance Launches "Total Fit" Global Brand Campaign

BOSTON, March 5, 2009 – Global athletic leader New Balance debuts a brand campaign this month that reinforces the brand’s heritage in performance running and introduces its Total Fit™ philosophy, the complete dedication to achieving the perfect fit. The Total Fit™ campaign continues to highlight the struggles of the athlete’s relationship with running that is fundamental to the brand’s LOVE/hate this is the new balance brand platform.

“The New Balance Total Fit™ campaign captures our unique understanding of running and showcases that fit is who we are and what we do,” says Joe Preston, EVP at New Balance. “We are proud of our place as the industry leader in fit. We were the first brand to offer running shoes in widths, and that extreme dedication to fit and providing purposeful innovation in all of our footwear and apparel continues today.”

The multi-media campaign utilizes television, print, and online advertising to reach performance and fitness runners/athletes with a primary media target of 25-34 year olds. The brand will also make an increased investment around the campaign’s launch at the store level with distinctive point-of-purchase displays, “Total Fit™ specialist” appearances, and a “Find Your Total Fit™” instant win sweepstakes.

Print, online and in-store elements will expand on the brand’s Total Fit™ philosophy with messaging around New Balance’s 88 critical points of fit that ensure the perfect fit for athletes/consumers. “We look at consumer needs first and then design and engineer our products around the 88 points of fit – critical measurements, both quantitative and qualitative, that we use to measure fit from every angle,” says Preston.

The campaign includes two new 30 second television spots that reinforce the essence of the runner’s love/hate struggle with running and introduce the Total Fit™ concept within that context as a proof point that Total Fit™ helps you love running more. Both spots end with state-of-the-art product animation that visually represents New Balance’s Total Fit™ proposition and highlights the men’s and women’s 769 running shoe.

The “First Mile” spot showcases visuals of the runner’s struggle represented by trees and roots that hold a male runner back at the start but result in a breakthrough into the euphoria and “love” of the run. The second television spot “Morning” acknowledges the fitness runner’s love/hate struggle with commitment which is visually represented by bed sheets struggling to keep a female runner from starting her morning run.

The television campaign breaks nationally on March 16th on ESPN/ESPN2 and will have heavy emphasis in the March-April and August-September timeframe. The campaign will have a strong presence on-line during the March NCAA Basketball Tournament on SI.com, CBSsports.com, and ESPN.com, among others.

Point-of-purchase and product displays at New Balance stores and key retailers nationwide will communicate the brand’s Total Fit™ story for footwear and apparel. Multiple variations include shoe shelf wraps, counter cards, product glorifiers and premium fixtures with LCD screen players that showcase the Total Fit™ animation from the television ads.

“We recognize that many athletic shoe decisions are made at the time of purchase,” says Christine Madigan, director of global marketing and brand management at New Balance. “Through the Total Fit™ campaign, we will tell our entire brand story at retail by providing compelling brand and product information to deliver a differentiating in-store consumer experience that ultimately drives try-on to positively impact sales.”

The campaign expands into print and online components that showcase how Total Fit™ pays off for runners by maintaining the relationship dialogue and highlighting two of brand’s new running styles for spring – the 1063 and 769. The 758 and 1225 running shoes will be featured in the back half of the year. Print copy highlights how New Balance’s Total Fit™ can provide the difference in helping a runner increase their love for running: “Feel our Total Fit™ and suddenly it’s just you and Running. You won’t even return calls from Quitting.”

The print campaign appears in vertical running/sports national and regional magazines starting in March including Runner’s World, Running Time, Women’s Running and Running Network. The brand’s Web site www.newbalance.com will feature the new campaign through a dedicated Total Fit™ section that highlights the 88 critical points of fit as well as provides information on New Balance’s fit testing and Sports Research Lab.

The campaign will also launch in major international markets including: Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Russia, Israel, South Africa, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

The Total Fit™ campaign creative was developed by BBDO New York who was named New Balance’s global creative agency of record in October 2007. BBDO New York leads a roster of agencies that also includes Atmosphere Proximity (digital marketing), and PhD (media buying and planning). Almighty of Boston, MA manages the newbalance.com creative.

New Balance, headquartered in Boston, MA has the following mission: Demonstrating responsible leadership, we build global brands that athletes are proud to wear, associates are proud to create and communities are proud to host. New Balance employs more than 4000 people around the globe, and in 2007 reported worldwide sales of $1.63 billion. For more information please visit http://www.newbalance.com.

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