pic above from the manga ‘The Greatest Race” avaialble from New Balance
How many more “+” signs do I need to drop in a title?
Highsnobiety is one of the best lifestyle blogs in the business. It’s only natural that when a brand not considered by many to be a lifestyle option (except for those looking to dress like Steve Jobs…sarcasm), that the brand would align with a platform that will deliver more eyes to the product. HS did one of the best long form interviews with both Hitoshi Mimura (who I wrote about when he joined New Balance last year) and with Japanese distance runner Daichi Kamino:
New Balance Nabs Former ASICS Advisor and Performance Running Legend Hitoshi Mimura As an Advisor
In this interview Highsnobiety also produced an elegant video featuring both Kamino and Mimura. It’s a beautifully crafted piece which led to me using all of the “+” symbols in the title and ultimately using an “=” sign to show how much effort was placed into a campaign for Japan vs what NB does in the US, which is not much. The multi’pronged’ approach to marketing for this Japan campaign takes place in every location that is of importance:
On Highsnobiety
On YouTube
On IG
On New Balance’s Site
This would make it seem like the strategy is nailing down every facet. The Highsnobiety article has been shared 62 times in 2 days. There aren’t any comments on the site though.
The IG page for New Balance has two videos referencing the strategy. 1 video has been viewed 28,000 times. The other video features a manga/anime reference that I haven’t listed here yet and there is a reason for that. That short clip has been viewed 78,000 times in 5 days.
Since December 31st the video which is both on New Balance’s site and on Highsnobiety in an embedded form (which still should register views) is only at 714 views. Did you catch that? On IG the video trailer for the HS x Mimuri interview has been viewed in a shortened form 28,000 times. The same video in its longer form hasn’t even hit 1000 on YouTube. As I said in the last paragraph I haven’t listed one of the best aspects of this campaign which is the pdf downloadable manga featuring the imagery from the IG video. That manga is intricate for a sneaker campaign, but NB doesn’t even have the page listed on the home page of their site. They haven’t discussed on the news portion of their site and the only way to find it is via the header on IG:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsGCl9MF0Tb/
This is the video that has been viewed 78,000 times, yet it isn’t featured on Highsnobiety and it isn’t featured on New Balance’s website. The video isn’t on YouTube either. Here is the link for the manga.
Did you click through and look at that thing? It’s incredible. This is obviously not a campaign created for the U.S. and it’s clear that the Asian market is a much more responsive market because of the care placed into delivering some of the best storytelling I’ve seen. Although I see a serious problem in the lack of connection overall, a lot of this should have been replicated for the U.S. Because this was not a cheap campaign. While I don’t have the numbers and no one would probably give out the numbers, producing the manga was a cost. Producing the anime was a cost. Obviously paying Highsnobiety for such a lengthy post was a cost. Why isn’t New Balance using a similar strategy for the U.S.?
This is where it’s important to understand why Nike thoroughly dominates the U.S. market. Brands aren’t interested in sharing or building brand narratives because the American consumer isn’t considered conscientious/conscious. This isn’t exactly true, but I get it. What is the point of this post? A question:
Is New Balance leaving money on the table by failing to create beautifully constructed storytelling for the U.S.? This is a performance running play. Is New Balance responding to data that says the U.S. doesn’t care about performance? Should they be responding to that data without consideration for the importance of innovation in lifting sales? Do you think New Balance avoided a similar campaign because they are so closely aligned with the Republican party in the U.S. and creating a man vs the government could reflect poorly on this administration? Am I looking to deeply into a cartoon? lol
