NEW BALANCE AUDAZO
Creative Director | ZAK | Global Launch, Brand Strategy, Content
CHALLENGE
New Balance had credibility in outdoor football. Audazo was a play into futsal: a distinct discipline with its own surface, pace, culture, and community. In a category where the dominant brands compete through professional athlete association and aspirational superhero positioning, New Balance had neither the roster nor the budget to fight on those terms. The task was to launch the first Audazo collection globally and establish New Balance as a credible voice in the indoor game.
INSIGHT
The young futsal player does not see themselves in the professional. They see themselves in the player on the court next to them. Someone their age, with their skills, on the same surface, in the same game. In a category built entirely around unreachable performance, the brand that chooses the real player as the hero, not the star, owns territory nobody else is standing on. In futsal specifically, where technique is the currency and the court is the classroom, a brand that teaches the game earns a trust that aspirational imagery never will.
SOLUTION
The global launch campaign for New Balance Audazo was built around a clear creative proposition: no professional athletes. The campaign was built around grassroots players aged 13 to 20, focused on raw energy, real skill, and the fast pace of the small-sided game. The hero content format was the skill tutorial, breaking down indoor techniques like the Flip Flap Turn and Shadow Turn with the Audazo at the centre of every sequence. Key visuals, social, digital, and film assets rolled out globally. New Balance Football stopped competing for aspirational territory it could not own and started owning the grassroots game. Run the Game.
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