New Balance 80's Retro: Nowhere to be seen in the UK!

NEW DISCOVERY: THE US HAVE LAUNCHED RETRO NEW BALANCE HI TOPS. NOWHERE TO BE SEEN IN THE UK MARKET.

This range shows how the brand is making it quite clear that it wants to embrace both genders and every athlete.New Balance launched the retro the BB790 high-top silhouette in 2009, which was worn by the likes of James Worthy. It released in four colorways, each which have a predominantly white base, with accenting colors that match New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics and what appears to be either the Chicago Bulls or Atlanta Haws team colours. How this has not already been translated into the UK market, I do not know!

Below is an image of an actual retro 80's New Balance trainer which is also very cool in terms of design, colour and softer texture.

How To Style With Yellow New Balances!

Here are a few snaps our opinion former Si took for us to show what outfits he wore with his bright yellow UB40's!

80's Retro Sneakers

After discovering that 80's retro was a trend in our Opinion Former's house, I thought it was appropriate to find images of some 80's sneakers, to see if any of these elements could be incorporated into a new New Balance shoe.

The pastel colours are very summery and 80's however this makes the shoe very feminine.

This is much more manly while the colours still have a dulled 80's retro vibe. The chunkiness is different to New Balance's current small and sleek Hi Tops, so could make an interesting range.

The Firm: Film

When talking to Si's flat mates about what makes them make purchasing decisions, 19 year old Tobi came up with a very interesting answer. Tobias is our BIG Adidas fan. He said that he did not read magazines and did not feel that TV adverts made him go and buy something, although he would remember a cool advert for years.


Tobias said that for trend information, he gets his inspiration from films. He has recently seen Warner Brother's "The Firm" set in the 1980's. He said that from this, he has noticed that Adidas has started to focus more on their Trimm Trab style, and he currently loves the 80's chunky, colourful trainer vibe. Below are images of Adidas' Trimm Trabs, the soles are thicker, the colours more old school than fluroescent and have a definite nostalgia of when we were young.

"I love them because they are retro without being predictably retro.  They are old but not old enough that everyone is wearing them as 'retro' is in. I don't like to be the same as everyone else with my shoes, I like to stand out. I get bored of things when everyone starts to get them, and I think that 80's retro is something that could really hit off."

Adidas Football vs Fast

After asking our Opinion Former examples of their favourite adverts, Si came up with this Adidas football boot campaign, launched over the World Cup period. A long and very expensive advert, it seems the Tier 2 male consumer is most influenced by Television adverts as Si quotes:

"us guys waste a lot of time watching anything on TV really, so this is where we are most likely to see things". 

Si said that he liked this advert because:

"it combines fast cars, fame, footballers (all boys are interested in footballers and once aspired to be one as their dream job). This is enough to get any guys attention!" 

Si even commented on the appropriateness of this adverts timing in relation to the World Cup:


 "watching the World Cup just makes you want to go play football with the guys on a sunny afternoon. This advert is timed so perfectly that it convinced me to go and buy some of the shoes while I was in the football mood."


... After this short and sweet analysis it would seem that the Tier 2 male consumer is quite simply pleased!! However, as New Balance do not endorse anyone, and do not want TV adverts, a campaign on this level would not be appropriate. However, this has definitely helped us to analyse how the consumer thinks and responds to a direct sports advert, from a top competitor.


Caroline

Adverts Si Likes

We asked Si what his favourite adverts are, and this was his response:


'If we're talking about shoe adverts there's a K-Swiss one from a couple of years ago that's a good one, with the man dancing. I'm not really sure why I like it but I think it's because from a photography side the lighting's really good and the shots are really clear and precise.

This Adidas football quest advert in conjunction with the 2010 World Cup is really good in terms of attracting men. It's got football, fast cars, famous people...all stuff that is going to appeal to a lot of men.

I also really like the new Adidas advert which I saw for the first time this week. Again it's got football, celebrities and girls...very good for appealing to men. I also like the fact that it's showing lots of different aspects of Adidas with the football, dancing, biking, skating and just normal wear.

All of these adverts I've seen on the TV, which I think is the best way to reach men, or anyone my kind of age I guess...but obviously if a company cannot afford TV advertising I would say that the next best thing would be online because most students and young people spend a lot of time on the internet.

Adidas Birmingham Limited Edition

Our focus group with the Tier 2 consumer revealed that the boys (all friends) had found this particular limited edition exciting. Only 200 pairs of the trainer were made and each pair sold for £250. They are real collectables that any sneaker freak would love to get their hands on. Although none of the boys managed to get a pair, they were all aware of this edition, and it did make them go onto the Adidas website as a result, so brand awareness was also heightened as the consumer was reminded about the brand through this media buzz. The boys all agreed that if a limited edition is appealing enough, and in short enough supply, then it will generate word of mouth promotion and great PR. Something that New Balance could really do with...

Brand Mapping

We asked Si to record the brands he interacts with on a daily basis, and the results were very useful. The brand board created shows that despite being a student and not having a lot of money, Si relies on strong, established, quality brands for most things, with the occasional value purchase. 

He likes to spend money on good services and products, so he is likely to think through his purchasing decision rather than make a rash decision on the day. This means that products need to be marketed to him in a way that make them seem good quality, he needs to be exposed to some word of mouth marketing so that he knows of other people who like the brand and product and he needs to be convinced that the product is right for him and his lifestyle.

He spends time everyday online, on social networking sites such as Facebook, as well video sites You Tube, Vimeo, music sites (Spotify)  and TV catch up sites. This is useful to know. When we come to create our marketing campaign we should consider placing an aspect of our campaign online, on a site such as YouTube, as this is where the Tier 2 consumer can be found every day in their spare time.

Focus Group SCRIPT

Below are some key quotes that I have picked out from this focus group that I think are important to consider when planning the marketing strategy and campaign, as they reveal what the consumer wants and how they behave.

New Balance Diary Quotes

The diary that we gave to Si has returned to the team! Here I have highlighted some of the answers and comments that were most useful and relevant to this project.

Si Summary

We got Si to write a bit about himself so that we could understand him as a consumer. It reveals that Si likes to think of himself as an individual. He doesn't like to wear things lots of people have too. He finds TV adverts most influential but does also flick through magazines (mainly for work research). In order to reach Si, we would have to place our campaign ideally on TV, but otherwise as a viral video on websites would be the next best thing, and in magazines, but remembering that these places still need to remain understated locations for the brand to place itself within. Here is Si's post...

"ME IN A LITTLE POST...

MUSIC

For music my favourite would have to be dance music, I love it...always have, always will. I also like a bit of Dub-step and house music...anything really that I can dance to on a night out is good for me.

Oh and the girls said that I have to put Adele up here as I was playing her album when they came round...come she's every mans guilty pleasure.

FILMS

My favourite film of all time is City of God, it's a Portugese film and just slightly different so I like it. Otherwise it's just the usual films like Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, Outlaw and good series like Family Guy and the Simpsons.

ADVERTS

In terms of adverts I usually just see them on the TV but I'm sometimes influenced by the stuff I find in my housemate's shoe magazines...sometimes the stuff in there is pretty cool. Normally I try not to be too influenced by advertising though, unless it's quite innovative, because I like to buy stuff that I know no one else has got...for example if I go into All Saints I'll buy something that other people don't have. I'm a snob with clothes basically.

I also think I like to stand out with clothes because I have always stood out because of my ginger hair...so i just try to embrace that with the clothes I choose to wear.

MAGAZINES

I prefer photographical magazines like i-D and stuff like that...Dazed and Confused as well, that's a good one; I really like the photography they have.

I also have the book that was put together by the editor of Dazed and Confused, 'Young Sleek and Full of Hell: Ten Years of New York's Alleged Gallery' which is really good! I've been through that quite a few times because I really like the photography and it helps with finding inspiration for my architecture work.

I also read architectural journals and anything else that will help me with my course and inspiration.

Oh yeah and I also read the Sun every morning, but only for the sports section really.

I also really wanted to mention The Urban Gentleman because I think it might be interesting for the girls to have a look at, and I use it all the time to look at the trends forecasted for each season. The site, http://www.theurbangent.com/, generally looks at trends for each season for men to help us out. As well as the trends it also uses street style to show how the trends are already worn. I also really like it because it's also got articles on cars and electronics and also design and culture (this bit is always really interesting)

So yeah that's me in a little post!

SI"

We would like you to meet our opinion former

Si Mason, a connector was chosen as our opinion former. Michael from New Balance described him as the perfect New Balance consumer.  We thought that a connector would be most appropriate for this task, as they will really get the brand 'out there' with their naturally social personality.

'You can't be gloomy in these bad boys can you!' Laughs Si

Si is a second year Architecture student at Nottingham Trent University. He is currently President of the Architecture society, spends over 50 hours in University every week and has a hectic social life, living with 13 other boys. He is a definite social butterfly, and seems to always be a mutual friend of whoever I come across...It will be interesting to see how he handles this task! We have even made him a New Balance diary to record all the info we need!

As you can see, Si's house are messy, but Mavern Tobi Cieslik keep (admittedly in a very strange manner) cut outs of trainer magazines, this helps spread awareness of brands and products within the house, and ultimately their group of friends too. 'Connectors spread ideas simply through the amount of people they know' (Gladwell, The Tipping Point)

Si's Room

The products shown in these pictures say a lot about Si. The brands in the picture below are well known, well stocked in the UK, but interestingly they are not the cheapest available to a student. This shows that he values brand quality and acceptability within his demographic. He only uses established brands that he can rely on to do what he needs them to do.

Si has the smallest room in the house so it is very unorganised! He is used to a cluttered environment, so for an advert to stand out to him it needs to be something really different.

Potential Opinion Formers

Below are the mood boards that we created that outline our 3 potential opinion formers. We selected Jorge Dainton, a Connector, Sarah Combe a Mavern, and Si Mason another Connector. The boards outline the reasons as to why we thought each person was suitable for the role as our Opinion Former. 

Sarah Combe was originally selected, but unfortunately she broke her leg so was no longer in a position to work with us. We then had to wait for more trainers to be sent our way, until we discovered that Si Mason, the Connector was New Balance's preference and an 'ideal New Balance consumer' (Michael Clarke).

It is interesting to note the trainer choices made by each opinion former- the two connectors have both chosen bright, bold, statement making designs, whereas the mavern has chosen plain, functional options; reflecting their personalities further.

Jorge Dainton- The Connector 

 Sarah Combe- The Mavern

Si Mason, The Connector 

How To Pick an Opinion Former

In order to find our opinion former we asked ourselves a few questions...

...Looking at the descriptions of Malcolm Gladwell's Key Personas and Roger's Diffusion of Innovation Curve, we wondered whether there was anyone we knew that stood out as embodying one of these personality traits.

As it so happened, there were a number of people who stood out and would equally be suited for this project. In order to ensure they were 100% right, we created a tick-list to highlight the 3 best options.

Below features a copy of the tick list we created and filled out after having a brief chat with all 7 of the candidates:

Two males, both Connectors, and one female, who fitted the Maven description, were chosen as the best options and subsequently communications began to gather information and pictures of their lives to create moodboards to submit.