NEW BALANCE TIPS THE SCALES WITH NEW AD BUDGET

          "Marketing-shy" New Balance will return to TV in '98
     "for the first time in years, boosting its ad budget" from
     $4M to $13M, according to Terry Lefton of BRANDWEEK. 
     Lefton: "Bursting out of its niche-marketing-for-niche-shoes
     ethos, New Balance will break its biggest TV campaign,
     scheduled to start in March, possibly with a network intro
     buy, and continue throughout the year."  The TV campaign, by
     Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer/Euro RSCG, N.Y.,
     will continue with the print campaign tagline, "achieve New
     Balance."  Lefton reports that New Balance is "finishing off
     its third straight year of high double-digit growth based on
     its strength" in running and walking categories.  While
     developing some "unexpected cachet" in the inner city, New
     Balance "has eschewed ... star-studded marketing blitzes,"
     and instead targeted "an older, presumably more discerning
     demo than the core buyers of top brands" (BRANDWEEK, 11/10).