New Balance and Sun & Sand Sports have launched a footwear and apparel collection exclusive to the Middle East with a campaign that puts ‘real runners’ in focus.
The campaign takes a social-first approach, showcasing four Middle Eastern athletes: Hamza Masmoudi, Tia Elhout, Ashwaq Alsaeiri and Bader Farhan Alshamry.
New Balance picked these runners as the face of the campaign to support its global ethos of ‘Run Your Way’, encouraging stories from the region and by the region.
“We’ve always believed that the strongest ideas come from the region itself,” said Ana Elisa Seixas, Head of Marketing MEAI at New Balance.
She explained that even with New Balance’s “rich global heritage”, rolling out global campaigns without locally adapting them can miss the mark. “You start to lose that real connection with the consumer,” she said.
Therefore, the collection is the result of prioritising regional relevance and having exclusivity be a natural outcome.
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How New Balance challenges running stereotypes
The campaign builds on the key insight that there is no such thing as a ‘typical runner’. With the objective to get more people into running, the athletic-wear brand chose locally relevant runners who can share stories that are relevant to consumers in the region.
“We are all runners from the moment we decide to run, from 1 meter to 100 kms,” said Seixas. “If you run, you are a runner.”
This considers every aspect of running from run clubs to hidden gem routes and essential matcha café pit-stops. These authentic storylines bring consumers real running experiences, without the airs of ‘cookie-cutter’ perfection that most campaigns in the category exhibit.
“We selected real runners to become the face of this campaign, instead of casting models or creating something ‘too polished’,” she said. “Some run for PBs, some run for matcha, some run for the social circle, but what matters is that we all run!”
Building brand love
A key objective of the launch is to continue New Balance’s increasing brand awareness and converting this recognition into long lasting brand love.
Seixas explained that the brand has seen tremendous growth over the past years and credits this to New Balance’s agile strategy of showing up and driving brand conversations that are relevant.
“I always joke saying we must have campaigns that are as good on paper as they are in stores,” she said, explaining that beyond a ‘cool campaign; it’s also about dropping ‘cool products’ such as footwear and apparel that consumers actually want to buy and wear.
With this in mind, consumers have held the launch with Sun & Sand Sports in high regard, with many enjoying the collection and the familiar faces associated with them. “That recognition matters,” said Seixas. “Especially when those individuals are people who are always supporting and encouraging others to start running.”
The campaign has been developed with House of Comms on creative and Current Global on PR and influencer strategy.
