ASICS

Branding

What do you do when you’re the said huge, well-established company? You invest into staying relevant, expanding on new markets, and maintaining good market communication. This was exactly the task our branding agency took up – connecting the Balkan market with the Asics brand. Now, Asics had been the official partner of the Belgrade marathon, as well as a number of other similar events in the region, something they continued throughout the following years. Our role in their regional presence was to do an extension campaign to cover a wider market and make way for new sales channels.

Our campaign with Asics was one of the longest, most prominent campaigns of its kind in this part of Europe – and it was a huge success. We focused on promoting two new models: Stormer and Gel-Nimbus. We were the bridge that connected the Asics brand with its new market area, and these two models were the shoes we wore to cross it. This was a really interesting project – where we normally work with smaller companies to create brand identities and raise brand awareness, there was no need for any of that with Asics. Instead, our goal was brand activation and product introduction in the Balkan region. To do that, we had to understand the core of the Asics brand and all their products in order to keep it consistent while finding creative ways to bring it to a whole new level in a whole new market.

Despite its whirlwind name, Stormer was promoted as a model most suitable for walking and other comfortable, everyday activities. We covered all the touchpoints – we based the campaign on the existing brand tone and adapted it to not only suit the old demographics, but appeal to new ones, too. As for Gel-Nimbus, it was targeted at runners and more athletic types. Our focus was slightly different there – we adapted the communication  for men’s and women’s shoe models.

We did the logos and the accompanying graphical elements, which we adjusted to existing advertising channels: digital banners and ads (such as billboards and other print technologies, city lights, PoS, BTL) that creatively and accurately reflected the core of both of these models.

Result

We took the familiar Asics brand and ran with it in the Balkans. The six-month campaign succeeded at making it more relatable and desirable. At the time, these models won an Editor’s Choice award and was widely recognized as the best running shoe by all the relevant sports instutitions and media. What’s more, our branding and visuals made their way into the Asics headquarters in Milan, where it gained massive approval and recognition.

The Asics campaign was an amazing opportunity for Designer & Gentleman to show the range of what we can do with brands, be they start-ups or worldwide names. No matter the size of the project, we play to its strengths.