New Balance x Tash Sultana

Connecting with new audiences, online and in store

The brand's first artist partnership, and the last one that needed selling.

New Balance needed the 18–28 "Independents" — an audience that respected the brand and didn't buy it. The problem was relevance, not visibility. New Balance's ethos is Fearlessly Independent, and living up to it meant finding talent who could genuinely carry inclusivity, individuality and mental health rather than endorse them. A brand in that position can't buy its way out. Audiences can tell when someone has been rented.
Working with VMG sister agency Aspire Talent, we brought New Balance and non-binary musician and mental health advocate Tash Sultana together for the brand's first-ever collaboration. We led the content production, the talent management and the rollout of a global campaign across digital, out-of-home and experiential, anchored by a live-curated launch event in Melbourne built around artist collaborations, sustainability and storytelling rather than product.
NB Tash Sultana-1

The Result

It worked because it never asked to be noticed. Tash wore the shoes on stage in thirteen countries and talked about them when people asked, and people asked constantly — fans messaged the tour account wanting to know where the sneakers came from. Most of the reach went to accounts that didn't follow Tash at all, which is the part that matters: this wasn't a brand talking to an artist's existing fanbase, it was an artist carrying a brand into rooms it had no other way into. An Australian partnership, produced here, running as a global campaign. Four years on, the relationship is still going.
0 M
accounts reached in a single week of touring
0 %
of them not following Tash
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likes across Facwbook, Instagram, and TIktok
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fans at the shows, across 13 countries

Organic reach and engagement from Tash Sultana's own channels during the 2022 EU/UK tour. Reach figure covers 24–30 March 2022.
"The vibe has been HUGE since beginning the live shows, and New Balance has been centre stage on stage and off. We have seen A LOT of people across Tash's socials either highlighting the New Balance clothing/shoes or asking where they can buy them… This has also been the case on ground too."
Taylor James
Artist Manager