The growth of New Balance is a blend of fashion, but mostly performance and the grassroots programs surrounding running. While the latest release of an ALD, KITH or Joe Freshgoods sneaker gains considerable coverage in sneaker media, the last Indoor Championship saw:
New Balance Nationals Indoor has proven to be the pinnacle high school track and field event. Last year’s championships at the TRACK at New Balance hosted over 5,700 athletes with 18,000 spectators over three days, the most the event has ever had.
18000 spectators and over 5700 athletes got to experience the elite training center created by NB. These athletes and visitors became brand advocates. More important are the measurable stats of website traffic growth with the New Balance Nationals (nbnationalsin.com) site growing from 6000 visits in September of 2023 to 37,000 visits by the end of the year.
When comparing limited release sneakers to general release product, in 3rd party data, the search Men’s + New Balance + Fresh Foam on one site in 2023 sold 51,000+ pair. The Fresh Foam is a performance model. Sales are much smaller than a collab, but the model shows how healthy arbitrage bolsters a brand.
By comparison with more fashion focused releases, the search Men’s + New Balance + Joe Freshgoods garnered 1,144 pair sold and Men’s + New Balance + ALD showed 1,138 pair sold. Men’s + New Balance + KITH pulled in 2,044 pair sold. (I have an old formular for resale which places the number of sneakers sold on 3rd party at 30% of the total produced.)
New Balance has been smart about an investment into grassroots while other brands have focused heavily on fashion. Grassroots is a slow, long-term strategy which builds brand loyalty. A fashion approach hinges on a variety of factors including scarcity, which isn’t actually brand building but isolating and doesn’t necessarily contribute to the trickle-down effect often assumed by brands. Read more about the upcoming weekend of sports in Boston at the links throughout this post.
