New Balance: Outrunning the Competition
Introduction
After reading the case study for New Balance I see a brand with great potential. A brand that has staunch traditional values and customer satisfaction as its primary priority.

Question 1: What are New Balance’s strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities?
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
Good Management structure e.g. Van Rooyen the general manager
Wide range of products across every sporting category
Functional technological design in terms of fit. Foot widths have been incorporated in the design of the shoe. This distinguishes/ differentiates New Balance product from its competitors.
Brand has been kept affordable in terms of price
Inspired well-taken care of employees who …show more content…

Or doing in store promotions to create awareness about the shoes. These are clubs that the major competitors were not concentrating on, but rather focussing on big marathon races such as the Two Oceans and the Comrades. In store campaigns were a great way to connect with the customer personally.
2. Van Rooyen dedicated a big chunk of the company’s expenditure into the sponsoring of events. This gave the company a lot of exposure. These events ranged from the Total Sports Challenge’s Knysna Marathon, Surf Ski Series and school events. They also targeted top schools in South Africa that are well known for their cricketing, netball. And through this New Balance was on everyone’s mouth.
3. Another way they utilised in-store promotions was to assemble a Fit Tracks Machine, which is a foot scanner that advises a person which shoe product and size a new runner would need. This is a strategy the major brands were not using and this gave New Balance an edge above them, and it also marketed the functionality of their product.
4. Corporate branding and clothing. This is a growing gap in the market that the big giants weren’t focussing on. The opposition targeted soccer teams while NB went for the Army, air force, Police force.
5. Advertisements in running magazines. Other brands had stopped putting adverts in running magazines as this was costly. New Balance saw a gap and advertised in every single issue of Runner’s World Magazine. And this paid off to an