Do "Little Old Ladies" Not Wear Tennis Shoes?

By Guest Blogger, Mary Schmidt, Marketing Troubleshooter

Earlier this week, Michele Miller wrote about what she (and I) think is a supremely short-sighted move by New Balance. 

In  her post, New Balance Jumps The Shark, Michele notes that, 

This week’s announcement that New Balance is shifting its campaign and advertising focus to a younger crowd has been met with skepticism, if not downright infuriation.

With the entrance of New Balance’s new CEO, the company is doing what resembles a 180-degree spin on strategy, with a new advertising campaign centered around the love/hate relationship people have with running.  And it’s not just people, but high schoolers – a far cry from the “boomer” and “everyday person” New Balance has built its success on.

...I fear this is going to be a disaster of gargantuan proportion for a company that I like very, very much.  Will this be another Vital Radiance episode?  Will New Balance be listening to customers and monitoring the Internet for reaction?  We can only wait and see… and hope.

Yes, once again a company decides that chasing the "youth" market is the answer. So, who cares if they lose existing customers?  Look!  There are all those bright, shiny new ones! (What should be an obvious tip: No company can grow infinitely. Maybe they should be happy with a few billion.)

The core problem is that many companies think of us "old baby boomers" like the image above. The reality is that we think (and are, want to be) more like this.

(We also are often the ones actually buying shoes for those "shiny new" customers.) 

P.S. I just got my AARP card...and I need new walking/running shoes.  Guess what I won't be buying?

Related Post: What's Next? Thong Depends?

Comments

[Rudin Dchosta]

Good topic.! I always appreciates to New Balance for their latest innovations. Campaign and advertising focus to a younger is really very nice strategy.