“If New Balance were going to do basketball, how would you do it?” — Jonathan Grondin, Sr. Creative Design Manager at New Balance

New Balance Basketball

> Title: We Got Now
> Role: Creative Development, Brand Marketing & Strategy, Copywriting, Research

Outside of campaigns designed around James Worthy in the ’80s, New Balance had mostly left the basketball category due to the success of its competitors and fast rising upstarts. After missing out on the halcyon sneaker days of the ’90s and early ’00s, the brand felt an itch to return to the category. They wanted to do something big. Something different.

And so they tapped The SpringHill Company to help them crack the code and engage with a younger audience demo who’d be skeptical of its expertise in the space.

As partners, we couldn’t just dip our toes into this ultra-competitive space. We had to take an all-hands-on-deck leap of faith to even get things started. Together, we accomplished some amazing feats and built the foundation for the future, helping New Balance Hoops own their moment under the rallying cry — We Got Now.

👉 Side Note: We Got Now was so well liked and successful for the brand, it became the global rallying cry and creative platform for New Balance, as the brand rose to historic prominence within pop culture.

Part of building the brand is aligning with the right talent to help legitimize your business. We knew New Balance couldn’t compete with the Nikes and Adidases of the world. We had to take a more unconventional approach. And boy, did it work out in our favor.

Coming off a Jordan Brand deal, we assisted in pairing the brand with NBA superstar and 2x NBA Champion Kawhi ‘The Klaw’ Leonard.

One of the most unassuming and reserved superstars in the game’s history, Leonard was looking for an opportunity to cement his legacy and lead a brand to new heights alongside his quest for basketball greatness. To the world, the self-proclaimed “Fun Guy” might have been an oddball, but we used that to our advantage. We chose disruption and originality over the safe bet. Look who got the last laugh.

We also worked with our sister brand and premier sports agency — Klutch Sports Group — to create a first-of-its-kind internship program for then 5 ⭐️ hoops prospect, Darius Bazley.

He spurned his commitment to Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse Orange, instead electing to take a more unconventional path to the pros. Picking up on the trend yet?

Darius spent the entire season working at New Balance as an intern, learning the ins and outs of the brand, basketball category, and the amount of effort and detail taken to be successful in that space, while spending his spare time training for the NBA Draft in the brand’s facilities. Oh, I forgot to mention. He also earned a cool $1 Million salary for his intern efforts (see here and here).

Something so unconventional, it was a no-brainer to document this experience to share with the world. We created the Gap Year documentary, that chronicled his year-long journey to the NBA Draft.

New Balance Tennis

> Title: Call Me Coco
> Role: Creative Development, Research, Copywriting, Brand and Social Strategy

In perfect alignment with the revolution and resurgence in pop culture New Balance was experiencing, then 15 yr old tennis sensation Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff was blossoming into her own 🌟, serving headlines and tennis balls on the court with elegant grace and poise. Kinda reminded us of…dare we say it…a young Venus Williams. (Fun Fact: Coco defeated Venus at 2019 Wimbledon)

Known to her friends and family as Coco, Gauff was referred to in the media and tennis authorities by her given, government name — Cori Gauff. She made multiple attempts to change or sway their doing. It didn’t work. She hated it.

Thinking on the fly, we took that negative and spun it into a positive. We developed and launched a national campaign aptly titled, Call Me Coco. As partners, we made it a mission to double down on her wishes and emphatically enforce who Coco was and what she represented, regardless of her young age.

And you know it blew up. See here, here, and here.

We trended and went viral, the tees sold out, and Coco FINALLY got people to reference her properly. 🤝