New Balance has developed a track and field strategy “that focuses on middle-distance and distance runners, generally signing athletes overlooked by other companies” such as Nike and adidas, according to Shira Springer of BOSTON GLOBE MAGAZINE. The brand has a team of 40 track athletes, and lacking a roster deep enough to guarantee medalists at major competitions, New Balance “looks for runners with interesting stories to tell.” It invests in athletes who “might need a second chance to develop.” However, U.S. middle distance runner Jenny Barringer Simpson “was an exception; New Balance competed with Nike, Saucony, Brooks, and Under Armour for her talents.” The Colorado-based runner “turned down a more lucrative offer from Nike because, in part, she liked how ‘when you wear the New Balance logo, you become part of the New Balance family.'" On one of her visits to the company's Massachusetts-based HQs, employees “wore T-shirts with her image emblazoned on the front and the words ‘Making shoes for Jenny B' on the back.” Springer notes a New Balance ad featuring U.S. runner Maggie Vessey “in only silver body paint and racing shoes is certainly a conversation starter.” The “tasteful nude advertisement and the namesake shoes illustrate a fundamental part of the New Balance marketing strategy: directly linking its athletes to its products.” Most brands “don’t push the names, faces, and stories of their professional track and field athletes into the commercial spotlight as aggressively as New Balance does.” New Balance Marketing Manager Josh Rowe said, “It’s a much broader, more integrated approach, as far as putting the athletes into our messaging whether digitally or on the product in stores. No other shoe company has a training shoe (for distance running) with an athlete’s name on it” (BOSTON GLOBE MAGAZINE, 1/29 issue).
