Source: https://vimeo.com/535695413
I often refer to the film Finding Forrester when I talk with students about writing. There is a moment in the film right before Ornette Coleman’s disjointed jazz begins to play when the main character Jamaal is sitting with Forrester attempting to break out of writer’s block. At that moment, Forrester tells him, “Begin with my words, until you find your words,” or something like that. We all begin with some type of influence and then we find our own voice.
Last week New Balance announced Teddy Santis as the head of their Made in the USA division. The roll out of content has already taken off with the drop of the video above. Recalling Nike’s classic “Freestyle” commercial dropped at the height of And 1 Basketball’s rise to fame (I state that to establish that Nike basically took the entire aesthetic of And 1 mixtape, which borrowed heavily from NYC basketball, which… you get the picture), New Balance delivers an almost perfect spot and it immediately connects. More important, I’ve long discussed that brands are missing an entire segment of the population in the current sneaker atmosphere.
I think New Balance is moving fast enough to realize that Kawhi’s luster isn’t strong enough to carry a reemergence into basketball. Hence the signing of Jamaal Murray and the updates to the athlete roster, which still won’t resonate here in the U.S. The NBA may drive engagement with the international market and sneakers, but to really spark something in basketball in the U.S., a return to the grassroots is required. Until now no brand has really looked to both the history (recent history) of basketball and connected it to today’s interest in retro. Everyone has been so focused on modernizing the game and updating sneakers to look futuristic, they’ve ignored the heart of the game. Jason Williams and Charles Oakley don’t have rings, but they represent everything right about basketball: toughness and skill with a touch of flair. Bobbito and Rafer Alston recall the roots of pick up basketball and the EBC/Rucker.
I’m reflected in this video. There is memory here. Great marketing reminds you of life and love. It makes you smile. If New Balance continues to connect both basketball and sneaker culture, they could do something for the game that not even Nike understands anymore. They could find a way to the generation that birth sneaker culture and that would be something to behold. I mean, Oak ends the video. It doesn’t get more perfect than that.
