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New Balance's ‘We Got Now' Campaign: Key Findings
Campaign Snapshot
New Balance’s latest global campaign is bringing together top athletes across sports to celebrate craft, play, and camaraderie.
Made together with integrated marketing agency VML USA, "We Got Now" kicks off with a short film featuring two-time Grand Slam singles champion Coco Gauff.
The tennis athlete rose to fame at age 15 after defeating Venus Williams at Wimbledon in 2019 and recently cemented her star status by winning the 2023 US Open and the 2024 WTA Finals.
Gauff, now the World No. 4, is set to face Alex Eala of the Philippines in the quarterfinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on February 19.
Shohei Ohtani and Bukayo Saka also headline the diverse roster to emphasize the brand’s commitment to both performance and joy.
"In the years since we launched ‘We Got Now,' New Balance — both the brand and our athlete roster — has evolved, and the campaign has continued to grow with us.
Bringing our athletes together, showing the fun that comes with the work, their commitment to craft, is what it is all about,” Jeff McAdams, New Balance SVP of Global Marketing at New Balance, explained.
In the year ahead, New Balance will also roll out unique campaign spots highlighting other athletes, including:
- Francisco Lindor
- Eberechi Eze
- Jeremie Frimpong
- Cooper Flagg
- Tyrese Maxey
- Cameron Brink
- Zach Levine
- Dejounte Murray
- Darius Garland
The campaign's music also plays a key role in bringing the campaign to life.
Custom arrangements of The Soul Searcher’s "Blow Your Whistle" score the playful energy of the athletes, enhancing the visual narrative of movement, craft, and collaboration.
A Time to Shine
The creative team filmed in multiple locations to capture the athletes in moments where sport shines and spontaneity glistens.
Each vignette spotlights athletes in natural interactions, displaying the skill, personality, and teamwork that made them the faces of their sports.
The hero spot is then stitched with jump cuts to create seamlessness between each showcase, delivering a high-energy feel to its viewers.
Spots will air across major sporting moments throughout 2026, including the FIFA World Cup, NFL playoffs, NBA and WNBA finals, World Series, and tennis grand slams.
Social media activations are in place to extend the campaign’s reach.
This gives fans behind-the-scenes glimpses and encourages engagement through interactive content.
Overall, giving a spotlight to athletes from a variety of sports demonstrates the power of athlete and celebrity marketing in reaching diverse audiences and fanbases.
Star Power With Cultural Precision
New Balance offers a clear example of how athlete visibility paired with grounded storytelling can expand attention without diluting brand meaning.
- Athlete diversity broadens relevance, allowing the brand to speak across sports, geographies, and performance cultures.
- Music and cinematic craft heighten emotion, turning sports marketing into a narrative experience.
- Multi-channel execution sustains momentum, keeping the campaign present across broadcast, digital, and social touchpoints over time.
This alignment shows up in the numbers. New Balance reported $7.8 billion in global revenue in 2024, with sales jumping 20%.
This shows how campaigns built on credible athletes and cohesive brand storytelling can translate into sustained commercial momentum.
Our Take: Can Star Power Ever Be Too Much?
New Balance is doing what it takes to be competitive, and it's doing so with honesty and finesse.
Watching Gauff and Ohtani in these ads reminds me that even elite athletes thrive on joy and connection.
And this gives the campaign a humanizing and relatable touch.
It’s a reminder to believe in the star power of your talents and let their personality shine to make global campaigns feel truly aspirational.
Ultimately, I think this approach gives New Balance room to compete with bigger brands, proving that a strong theme and strategic placement can win hearts and minds.
In other news, Nike recently tapped into African culture and teamed up with football legend Jay-Jay Okocha to bring back the joy and flair in football.
Human-driven stories always capture the hearts of the audience. These top agencies help companies apply timeless storytelling with modern experiences.
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