New Balance To Launch Campaign Highlighting U.S. Manufacturing

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New Balance this week launched a national campaign "touting its domestic manufacturing and highlighting the fact that each year a quarter of its total athletic-footwear production is either made or assembled in the U.S.," according to Natalie Zmuda of AD AGE. The campaign "includes an online documentary, as well as print, radio and online ads." The documentary "highlights the town of Skowhegan, Maine, home to one of New Balance's five U.S. manufacturing facilities." Interviews with workers are "interspersed with images of small-town life, a baseball game, a diner and images of the factory." Digital Kitchen produced the documentary, while Almighty, Boston, "handled the digital-marketing plan." BBDO, N.Y., created the print ads, and Conover Tuttle Pace, Boston, produced the radio spots. Whether the campaign is the "beginning of a larger trend in which companies emphasize their American heritage remains to be seen." BigResearch Exec VP/Strategic Initiatives Phil Rist said that there is a "sense of national pride among many consumers, for whom the campaign is likely to be appealing." Zmuda notes New Balance "does run the risk that consumers will view the campaign as disingenuous," as 75% of the company's footwear is "produced outside the U.S., although that compares with 100% for most other U.S. footwear companies." Rist said that the fact that the "majority of its footwear is not made in the U.S. might prove a sticking point" in the campaign's effectiveness (ADAGE.com, 6/15).