New Balance Marries Red Sox: Match Made in Heaven

Today, while walking with a friend at Fenway Park he declared that "New Balance sneakers are sick," and he wants a pair. Now up until a few weeks ago he had been completely content with his Nike sneakers that were just a few months old.  I had always though of New Balance as the sneakers my dad bought or the my mom wore for comfort reasons. Never had I considered someone my age wearing.  This wasn't a brand associated with jocks or "lax bros."  But now New Balance is being recognized with sports and names like Under Amour and Nike, not quite on the same scale, but not too far off either. So what has sparked this new image for New Balance?


A partnership with the Boston Red Sox.


As a die hard Red Sox fan I know that it's a big deal when any company or brand buys out space at Fenway Park for advertising. So early this season while walking by Fenway, before Adrian Gonzalez himself had even played on the field, I spotted a new sign in the back of the park waiting to be constructed atop the bleachers in right field.  It was a flashy New Balance sign, lights and all.  Of course this meant that I needed to come back and research it.  I learned from good old boston.com that New Balance had been named the official footwear of the Boston Red Sox.


New Balance now joins the ranks of Giant Glass, W.B. Mason, and Dunkin Donuts, as big name in high profile sponsors for the team. Naturally this meant that the company would have a 70ft sign with almost 2,000 LED lights prominently displayed above the new right field high-def scoreboard.  This announcement came on April 4th and it seems to be a very strong partnership.  New ads featuring Dustin  Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis have been running during the Sox games on NESN, while the N's on Pedroia's cleats in the game seem bolder and brighter than any Nike swoosh I've ever seen.


This whole partnership is a brilliant move on the behalf of New Balance, and the Sox have nothing but money to gain from the whole thing.  Now all Fenway park employees such as ushers and grounds crew are outfitted in New Balance gear. The Red Sox also put an emphasis on their green initiative at the park by noting in their announcement that the flashy sign uses energy efficient LED lights.  Also New Balance is a continuing sponsor of the "Run to Home Base" a charity event hosted by the Red Sox Foundation to help support veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The two organizations clearly have their bases covered on this partnership, pardon the bad baseball pun.This is a true example of a win-win situation for both parties in the world of marketing and PR.


Before this partnership I had always been a fan of the old New Balance commercials and campaigns which focused more on the every-day runner and athletes as opposed to high profile celebrities.  But at the same time all I could ever think of when I considered the brand was their tradition white sneakers that my father and grandfather wore, nothing stylish, but built for comfort.  Now however, seeing Dustin Pedroia in these shoes, and associating the brand with a competitive team and athletes has made a world of difference. Within just a month it seems that New Balance has managed to re-brand itself and reach a new type of consumer through a very simple partnership and the use of traditional media platforms.


New Balance, I'm proud of you. And as for you, Sox, keep on trucking you've got some ground to make up and a World Series to win.




Pedroia Commercial that foreshadowed partnership: