New Balance 80's Inspired Limited Edition Idea

After conducting research into the up and coming 80's sneaker trend, I have created a moodboard of inspiring images, and then created examples of what the New Balance 80's Edition could look like.

80's Inspirational Moodboard

New Balance Limited Edition Suggestion

Presentation Slides: Make Your Mark

Research Video

Viral Video

Campaign Idea: New Balance. Make Your Mark

The main concept behind our campaign and big idea is MAKE YOUR MARK.

Concept.

Putting your stamp on something and personalizing in a way that makes you different and unique. New Balance can help you to make your mark by not following the crowd. Be expressive with New Balance.


The Media Platforms.

Pop-Up: In order to appeal to 'Tier One' consumers a pop-up New Balance Café will appear on the rooftops of certain buildings for a few hours at a time. The café will have a retro American feel and will host vending machines full of a new special edition of New Balance trainers. These trainers will be set sizes and colours and, once the individual has selected their shoes, an interactive touch screen can be used to type in a message or pattern that best represents themselves. This message will then be embedded into the sole of the shoe, through the use of hot plates, before the product is dispensed.
By wearing these shoes, individuals will literally be 'making their mark' with New Balance everywhere they go. Influential bloggers, connectors and editors of magazines such as Dazed and Confused, GQ, POP, Wonderland, Sneakerfreaker etc will be invited to these events, and the locations will be revealed through Twitter, Facebook and the New Balance page. Locations will include Shoreditch, Old Street, Carnaby Street, and Manchester.

Viral: A Viral Video will be released to help raise awareness of the campaign and to roll 'Make Your Mark' down to appeal to the 'Tier Two' consumers.

The video begins with the New Balance Vending Machine which dispenses New Balance stickers that come alive and travel along the floor. These stickers escape to the street, making their way into a house where they meet a consumer wearing ordinary trainers. They then cover these trainers and turn them into bright New Balance (helping this consumer make their mark with the brand by getting rid of any other ordinary or mainstream brand). Once they have done this they travel back outside and cover a nearby wall to then form the New Balance symbol...literally making their mark on the fence.

If this was completed on a larger scale we envisaged the New Balance stickers causing more mischief around the city such as covering cars and passers by and turning shoes into New Balance, even business men going to work will be harassed by these stickers and will end up wearing New Balance. 

Visual Merchandising: Our vending machine idea will also be translated to appeal to 'Tier Two' consumers by appearing in all stores that currently stock New Balance. The vending machines will feature the limited edition trainers to display for consumers. Once the consumer selects which shoe they would like to buy / try on they simply type in the relevant code (as you would for a normal vending machine) and a New Balance sticker will appear with the relevant trainer code on it. These stickers are then taken to a shop assistant who will collect the shoes ready for trying on.
This idea aims to make New Balance stand out against consumers in a more effective way while not altering the way consumers shop in-store too much. Consumers will still be able to browse and try on as many trainers as they like but it results in a higher level of interaction with the brand.


If money was no object, the vending machines in-store would also feature the personalized message application that will appear in the pop-up cafes, but for a more realistic option it is proposed that it would be possible for consumers to personalize trainer soles if they order a pair of shoes online.

New Balance Research Blog: Viral Video

New Balance Research Blog: Viral Video: "This is the stop-motion viral video we made as a group... The main concept behind the campaign video will be ‘Make Your Mark’; encouraging ..."

My team mate Abbie has posted our Viral Video on her blog. The video shows the New Balance stickers escaping out of a New Balance vending machine, the stickers are alive and move across the city, making a New Balance mark where they leave. They then turn any trainers they come across into New Balance too, which represents how New Balance can make their mark on the trainer scene.


As New Balance is an understated brand, this video is designed to be viral only, it will not appear on TV as the brand does not want to become mainstream (and cannot afford TV ads anyway!).


The video is about making your mark on the trainer scene and moving away from the mainstream.

Research Video with Tier 2 Consumers

In order to understand what makes a Tier 2 consumer make purchasing decisions involving their trainers, we hit the streets of Nottingham and asked ten Tier 2 consumers... 'In a shop, what makes you buy a pair of trainers?' And their answers are shown below:

From these answers, it can be seen that the Tier 2 consumer values individuality within their chosen products, with mentions of unique soles, vintage designs, limited editions and the Nike I-D trainer. The Eighties was again flagged up as a trainer trend along with the idea of retro designs, classic shapes and colours. This research video solidified trends that were flagged up by other Tier 2 consumers in our focus group, and should be used within our marketing campaign.