TRAINER SOLES

An interesting fold-out from the Sneaker Freaker magazine I picked up in Berlin featured a collection of trainer soles from different brands and styles. This got me thinking about the New Balance sole which, from what I have experience from our Opinion Former's trainers, are very bland and have hardly any branding on them. Compared to competitor soles shown in the image below New Balance cannot be distinguished and could take inspiration from the interesting and bright soles shown below. These competitor soles have the potential to print logos wherever they walk; something that New Balance could take into account for distinguishing themselves and also as a way of some free advertising...

SNEAKER FREAKER POSTER OF DIFFERENT BRANDED SOLES

A bold design with large, clear shapes and a clear name

A very large brand logo with bold shapes and different colours to help it stand out.

Nike are a good example of a brand who make the most of their shoes...with the brand name or logo always a feature on their soles. It also helps that they have a worldwide known logo with the Nike tick which can be used effectively on the soles of trainers without having to mention the brand name.

Here's a Nike sole that, though more understated, uses an intricate pattern to keep the sole interesting.

A simple, but effective, use of the Nike tick; keeping the sole simple but still distinguished.

Being able to look at all the different things competitors do with the soles of their trainers has got me thinking about ideas for our campaign... New Balance could create a new design for the soles of their trainers that is a lot more branded and features their name or logo a lot more prominently than they currently do.