New Balance: Digital Transformation by Emily Mandujano

madeleineluciamartinez — 2025-10-20 20:22:06 UTC

Quote:

"People were in search of something new that was actually attainable, but still felt special, and New Balance was able to provide that.

'I just feel it was a perfect moment, like almost a serendipitous thing. You have a lot of people looking for an alternative to Nike, and New Balance kind of seemed like a good alternative,' says one of the world’s foremost New Balance collectors and Philadelphia native Richie Roxas".

rosetastic214 — 2025-10-20 20:24:31 UTC

New Balance's CEO on Strategy, Values and the Trump Controversy | TIME

rosetastic214 — 2025-10-20 20:25:52 UTC

2025-10-20 20:26:50 UTC

https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2025/06/24/how-new-balance-went-from-dad-shoe-to-scoring-the-no-1-nba-draft-prospect/

rosetastic214 — 2025-10-20 20:26:52 UTC

madeleineluciamartinez — 2025-10-20 20:28:14 UTC

New Balance mostly hasn't changed; they've just shifted audience perspective of their shoes with strategic collaborations and a little bit of luck that brought them back into relevance.

aileengo2 — 2025-10-20 20:28:44 UTC

The brand shifted its focus to target more younger audience in the upcoming years, versus in the 2010s when the brand was most popular among older men, also known as the "dad" shoe.

ememandujano02 — 2025-10-20 20:29:31 UTC

New balance has leveraged social media as part of their digital marketing strategy, utilizing platforms like Instagram and TikTok to promote their latest products.

rosetastic214 — 2025-10-20 20:30:33 UTC

The trendy new sneaker to wear

aileengo2 — 2025-10-20 20:32:20 UTC

They gained popularity among the younger generation by creating advertisements with well-known celebrities like: "Hailey Bieber, Timothee Chalamet, Kanye West, Rihanna, and Emily Ratajkowski"

Brief history

2025-10-20 20:32:46 UTC

Since being founded in 1906, New Balance has always been known for their chunky “dad shoes” and providing comfort to runners with a variety of foot shapes and sizes. Since the reemergence of dad shoes in about 2019, New Balance took the momentum from the trend and ran with it. Since then, they have signed dozens of the most talented and successful athletes in the world and made themselves the chosen footwear brand for athletes in almost every sport.

rosetastic214 — 2025-10-20 20:33:54 UTC

New Balance mainly known as the "dad shoe" often only appealing to a older audience. One celebrity often wearing them was Steve Jobs

ememandujano02 — 2025-10-20 20:41:40 UTC

Rihanna, 2014

madeleineluciamartinez — 2025-10-27 20:05:03 UTC

madeleineluciamartinez — 2025-10-27 20:08:15 UTC

Audience of athletes & athletic people

madeleineluciamartinez — 2025-10-27 20:09:42 UTC

Streetwear

Instagram is filled with photos of athletes & sports theme

rosetastic214 — 2025-10-27 20:09:42 UTC

ememandujano02 — 2025-10-27 20:12:24 UTC

From Dad Shoe to Trendy: Attracting a younger, more diverse audience.

AUDIENCE

aileengo2 — 2025-10-27 20:12:30 UTC

Overall throughout their years, the audience mostly expanded throughout the years with their most popular audience centering around sports apparel. This website gives a breakdown of New Balances' different marketing strategies and their target bases.

This article showcases the many personas & audiences New Balance reaches

rosetastic214 — 2025-10-27 20:14:18 UTC

Audience analysis:

2025-10-27 20:18:24 UTC

New Balance went from a staple shoe to anyone with bad feet to an essential piece of footwear for anyone with feet. New balance has successfully pandered to almost every possible audience and grown in their sales and reach tremendously. However, they have invested greatly into the realm of sports and professional athletes. For example, they just signed NBA rookie cooper Flagg to a $13 million dollar multi year contract. They also pay track athlete Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone $1.5 million dollars annually. These two deals alone cover different sports and very different demographics which helps maximize new balances reach.