New Balance ‘My Future Self’ / Beattie McGuinness Bungay

Nike and Adidas have long had a stronghold on the sporting economy in the UK. And it’s no wonder when Nike spent around fifteen times more than New Balance on advertising in the UK in 2016. Stalwart of the US sports scene, New Balance is only beginning to make a name for itself in the UK. In order to persuade athletes to consider its wears, New Balance has released the latest instalment of its ‘My Future Self’ campaign recognising the sheer determination that goes into becoming one of the UK’s top athletes.

The series of long and short-form inspirational films focuses on individual athletes’ letters to their future selves encouraging self-improvement. The latest 75-second advert is narrated by distance runner Callum Hawkins. In his letter he pleads with himself to overcome mental trials in order to take his career to the next level. He reminds himself that glory comes from hard graft, i.e. running 17 miles a day, every day of the year, in order to get into peak condition for his competitions. Creative shows Hawkins running a rugged course through a mountainous region before reaching the summit of a mountain overlooking a beautiful loch. The advert ends with the line ‘Remember there are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going’ as Hawkins finally takes a well-deserved rest. Previous spots have focused on tennis player Heather Watson and cricketer Joe Root.

Choosing athletes from across the sporting spectrum is an effective tactical move. We’ve seen New Balance lifestyle shoes around town for years now, but did you know New Balance makes tennis and cricket kits? With these films New Balance is seeking to become relevant to athletes – not just the Urban Outfitters and ASOS crowd. This audience will surely pay dearly to have the best equipment (which hopefully has a New Balance logo on it) in order to achieve their training goals. Having both a male and female presence in the campaign further works to make the campaign relevant to all audiences and shows the brand catering to all individuals who love sport.

The campaign was designed for social and digital by BMB. Social is the perfect platform for a photography-heavy campaign aiming to capture the values and sheer hard-work that goes into training for professional athletic competitions. The film and campaign photos provide positive forms of inspiration helping novice and seasoned athletes to overcome their personal hang-ups. With cyber bullying and #thinspro relatively common on social media, the campaign offers refreshingly positive content.

It goes without saying that the social focus will also help the brand grow its meagre UK Instagram following which was hovering around 61k this week (for comparison, Adidas’ UK account has 1.5m followers). Joe Root is using his personal Instagram to promote his role in the ‘My Future Self’ campaign to 337,000 followers. Likewise, Heather Watson’s New Balance snaps have the potential to reach 87.6k.  With content from these athletes driving traffic to New Balance, the brand is sure to reach engaged consumers who are likely to be converted into customers.

All of the ‘My Future Self’ films are available to view now on newbalance.co.uk, with links for viewers to shop the collections shown, and on the brand’s social channels.