New Balance Becomes an Official Marketing Partner of the NBA
Source: New Balance and NBA Announce Multiyear Global Agreement
Where do people get their sneaker information? Do people actually look up information about sneakers? Are parents who are low to middle income with children researching running shoes or are they looking for the best prices? Which demographic tends to spend more money on sneakers? The sudden interest in women and sneakers comes from where?
Now that your mind is jogging, ask yourself how big the New Balance section is at your favorite sneaker shop?
I can continue forward with these type of questions. Sneaker companies purchase data and information to help understand why consumers make the decisions they are making. At the core of this search for information is the realization that the biggest sports brand in the world has the ability to capture an engaged audience every night in the only consistent manner that advertising can reach the masses: Basketball.
New Balance was able to broker a deal with the NBA. My first thought when reading this was, “Nike let that happen?” Here is the problem with that train of thought. Nike provides the uniforms for the league. The league itself has an abundance of partners. The official outfitter for the NBA Combine is Under Armour. New Balance isn’t attempting to pay for the rights to outfit. They want the ability to utilize NBA media for their marketing campaigns.
As New Balance continues its growth in the basketball category, the global NBA agreement offers the brand the ability to broaden its reach across the league and enhance consumer engagement with NBA fans around the world. As part of the deal, New Balance will create authentic broadcast, digital and retail content featuring New Balance-sponsored athletes in their respective NBA uniforms and team logos.
Have you ever seen commercials where an athlete is wearing a random blank jersey? It’s not as effective as when you see a Clippers logo or a Lakers logo is it? Professional sports and participation in sport (not the same thing) offer gateways which function as admission into the life of a potential consumer. When a brand can utilize an athlete they sponsor wearing their actual uniform then the relationship is reinforced twice:
- The athlete resonates
- The connection to team resonates
What is the most important aspect here?
I’ve stated continuously that brands must become media companies. Under Armour has taken this to heart with their recent The Only Way Is Through podcast on iHeart radio. New Balance has the chance to do this as they’ve brokered a deal with the only sport that provides a connection to athletes who function as both fashion and athletic models in the same broadcast. They’ve brokered a deal to place Kawhi in his uniform and build content around this. I love the use of synechdoche in marketing. Kawhi is the Clippers, the Clippers are Los Angeles, and New Balance sponsors the king and reigning Finals MVP and All Star MVP, therefore New Balance and Kawhi rule.
The NBA is right behind the NFL in viewership and live sport is the only place where fans aren’t able to avoid commercials. In the last few years I’ve discussed the fracturing of youth culture as it relates to sport, but when you circle back to the questions that lead this post there is one answer that can kind of be utilized, muscle memory.
The information that informs the purchase of sneakers is fostered over a lifetime and the NBA remains the fastest growing sport in the world. Children outside of the U.S. want to be like Steph Curry and Kawhi Leonard. The largest sportswear company in the world operates on muscle memory. The legacy of great athletes from the NBA sponsored by that brand are constantly connected to the athletes they sign today. New Balance has a very small history, but it’s a history that has the potential to create muscle memory with parents which could foster a relationship with the brand.
As the NBA’s global market takes on a similar growth pattern to when sneaker culture exploded in the 90s with Hip-Hop and basketball, New Balance is smartly positioning itself to take advantage of basketball’s maturation into a global force. It’s a smart move.
Here is a cool thought to end this post, imagine a wallpaper/screenshot of James Worthy in a Lakers uniform passing the ball to Kawhi. Remember Worthy was a New Balance guy. You have the image of the Lakers passing the torch to the Clippers. New Balance actually has the right to use this imagery now!!!! Things are going to get interesting with the content coming from the league.