New Balance tests celebrity ads to inform targeting strategy

Creative Format

Video & TV Ads

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The Brief

For New Balance’s “We Got Now” campaign, the brand needed to deploy creative content testing to uncover which celebrity ad spots would drive the highest increases in favorability, consideration, and positive feedback among this coveted demographic.

New Balance is a legacy athletic brand known for its practical, high-performance running sneakers.

Over the past few years, the brand has opted to showcase a more modern, fun aesthetic, leaning into streetwear culture and celebrity collaborations to drive awareness and conversions among younger audiences—particularly 13- to 34-year olds, which the brand dubs “global independents.”

Approach

The brand used Swayable to test four 15-second video spots, each of which featured different celebrities: tennis player Coco Gauff, musician Jack Harlow, baseball player Shohei Ohtani, and a group of NBA and WNBA players.

Outcome

The Coco Gauff ad drove the highest combination of lift in awareness, brand favorability, consideration, purchase intent, and message association against its target audience.

These insights guided ad frequency and placements, prompting the brand to shift investment to Gauff’s creative in real time across broadcast, streaming, social, retail, and OOH.

"We’ve done creative testing in the past, but through longer processes like Kantar reporting and brand health tracking on a quarterly basis. Being able to test something and have answers back within a matter of hours or a couple of days has been incredibly valuable."

Lauren Riker Global Marketing Manager, New Balance

More Case Studies

New Balance tests celebrity ads to inform targeting strategy

For New Balance’s “We Got Now” campaign, the brand needed to deploy creative content testing to uncover which celebrity ad spots would drive the highest increases in favorability, consideration, and positive feedback among this coveted demographic.

The brand used Swayable to test four 15-second video spots, each of which featured different celebrities: tennis player Coco Gauff, musician Jack Harlow, baseball player Shohei Ohtani, and a group of NBA and WNBA players.

The Coco Gauff ad drove the highest combination of lift in awareness, brand favorability, consideration, purchase intent, and message association against its target audience.

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