By Doug Brody

Heckler Associates had a whopping 40+ year hand in making New Balance® one of the top athletic footwear companies in the world.  That story starts with Terry Heckler putting an N on the side of the newly revived brand’s running shoes in the 1970s and continued with a legacy of making New Balance brands stand out from whatever pack they were challenging as they grew.

In my 15 years as creative director, art director and senior writer with the agency, New Balance and its sub-brands gave our team sweeping experience in lifestyle branding and marketing for trade, consumer and internal audiences.  From supporting the brand at major events such as the Olympics® to developing and marketing new sub-brands, we targeted a broad range of demographics and produced creative work in virtually every commercial medium.

For 10+ years I was creative director for the reborn classic sneaker brand PF Flyers®, a deep dive into trend and lifestyle.   As PF’s agency of record, the team developed web, advertising and packaging, trade events, retail installations and merchandising . . . you name it.  We helped the brand grow consistently in markets around the world with creative that could break through with trendsetters while hitting timely notes of cool casual style.

With products to address a broad range of lifestyles and uses, it’s not surprising New Balance has a diverse family of brands, sub-brands and endorsed brands.  I led redevelopment of the NBRx® foot health brand from a dealer-facing program to reach consumers too and directed numerous brand and design projects for women’s comfort footwear Aravon® and rugged Dunham® Bootmakers.

Over the years our role with the lifestyle brands at New Balance grew. By the time I departed Heckler Associates, I had led branding sessions with corporate leadership and strategic segmentation work for all New Balance lifestyle lines.  And I could style shoelaces for photos in my sleep.

Thanks for a world of experience to the great people at Heckler Associates and New Balance.

.