In a Swayable Insights webinar, "New Balance x Swayable: Embracing Data-Driven Marketing Strategies," Chrissie Szymanski and Lauren Riker from New Balance reveal how they're using rapid creative testing to elevate their marketing approach.
As a result, New Balance is now making informed decisions in real time, from global brand campaigns to product-specific ads. Moreover, the partnership with Swayable has transformed their process of developing, testing, and optimizing marketing efforts.
New Balance began working with Swayable in 2023, marking a significant shift in their creative content testing. Since then, the company has conducted seven rounds of testing, gathering over 46,000 responses. Notably, these tests evaluated factors such as brand favorability and purchase intent.
Notably, the data-driven approach spans all aspects of marketing, from major brand campaigns to specific product ads. While the initial focus has been on the US market, plans are now in place to expand to the UK and Japan soon.
One key campaign New Balance tested using data-driven marketing strategies was "We Got Now.” Specifically, the campaign aims to showcase the fun side of the New Balance brand, featuring athletes and entertainers like Jack Harlow and Jaden Smith.
"We know which ones are driving the strongest lifts in those brand metrics," Lauren explains. "Consequently, shifting our investment and frequency to the ones that are the strongest has been a great learning and something we've applied moving forward."
New Balance tested four ads, but one featuring tennis player Coco Gauff performed the best. The data revealed significant improvements in brand favorability and purchase intent, especially among New Balance's target audience of 13- to 34-year olds, termed "global independents."
"Seeing a young woman like Coco, a person of color, a female athlete, really shining and taking the light, drove these younger consumers to feel like they could resonate with Coco and the 'We Got Now' ad," Chrissie elaborates.
Subsequently, these insights guided ad frequency and placement decisions, revealing that Coco's appeal extended beyond tennis fans.
For product-specific ads, New Balance applies the same data-driven marketing strategy. During the webinar, they share an example of a running shoe ad campaign. Specifically, the team compared various images and messages, testing different taglines and sub-headers.
"We found out that the title should be the product name. And they didn't want any sub-header," Chrissie shares.
As a result, the insight about message simplicity has become a cornerstone in their ad creation process.
Furthermore, Lauren emphasized the importance of this data-driven marketing finding.
"Consumers see so many messages all day long,” she said. “Therefore, keeping it easy for them to recall our product and brand has been incredibly helpful as we create new ads."
New Balance's data-driven approach revealed unexpected insights that changed how they market their products. The team found that testing ads at every stage of creation, not just at the end, helped them make better choices. This way, they could adjust their media plans and messages as they went along.
They learned that more straightforward ads work best. When they tested different designs, the ones with clear, easy-to-understand messages always did better than complicated ones. Now, they always try to keep their ads simple and to the point.
The team also found value in the comments people left during testing. These comments often backed up what the team thought might work and gave them a deeper look into what customers like. By looking at both qualitative and quantitative data, New Balance got a full picture of how people react to their ads.
Using what they learned from these tests, New Balance now creates ads that connect better with the people they want to reach. Their new approach helps them make smarter decisions about their marketing at every step.
New Balance's partnership with Swayable has significantly enhanced their marketing capabilities. This collaboration revealed several key benefits that have greatly improved their creative testing process.
Swayable's rapid results allow New Balance to make quick, informed decisions about their marketing strategies. This speed has been vital, enabling them to adjust campaigns in real-time.
"Having a test go live on a Friday and being able to share those results back on a Monday has been really important for us," Lauren explains "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."
Moreover, the New Balance team appreciates Swayable's user-friendly interface. They can easily modify their testing approach to suit different campaigns, from global brand initiatives to product-specific ads.
"The ease of use has been a delightful surprise. It's so quick. We can change the language. It's very much what we need,” says Chrissie. “The biggest challenge has been getting this moved up in our GTM process ahead of content creation or finalization. If we can understand what will work hardest for our brand before we head into production, we can save significant non-working dollars and focus on putting the best expression of our brand in front of as many people as possible with as much media investment as possible."
Ultimately, these benefits have empowered New Balance to make data-driven decisions about its marketing campaigns. It can now confidently choose which ads to prioritize, allocate its media budget, and determine what messaging resonates best with its target audience.
At the moment, New Balance tests the content after it's been produced. Looking ahead, they plan to incorporate data-driven insights earlier in the creative process.
"In the future, we'd love to be involved in those upfront conversations of a kickoff for that creative campaign," Chrissie explains.
Furthermore, the team aims to increase testing throughout the creative process, allowing for continuous improvement of ads during development.
"We see it becoming a regular part of our GTM process—building the muscle memory will be key,” Chrissie adds. “We are also exploring copy testing, knowing that that can have as much of an impact as the creative itself."
In summary, New Balance's adoption of data-driven marketing with Swayable demonstrates the power of combining creative ideas with consumer insights. Through rapid creative testing, they have improved both global brand campaigns and product-specific advertisements, resulting in more effective marketing strategies.
As New Balance continues to refine its data-driven approach, this method will undoubtedly play an increasingly significant role in shaping their marketing efforts. Ultimately, this strategy allows for the creation of campaigns that resonate more strongly with the target audience, providing a crucial edge in the competitive athletic wear industry.
Learn how Swayable's data-driven insights can transform your marketing efforts, just like they did for New Balance. Take the first step towards smarter, more effective campaigns that truly resonate with your audience and schedule a demo today.
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