Making an iconic sneaker culturally relevant by celebrating past & future.

Create an iconic moment with New Balance that fused the creativity and excellence of legends.

  • Build an event that celebrates New Balance’s iconic 574 sneaker that appeals to the modern, urban market and puts a new global holiday on the map: “Grey Day.”

  • New Balance shoes are a blank canvas designed with the needs of people in mind so that people can add their own voice, and make their own statement. The 574 is an accessible and dynamic blank canvas for creators.

  • We built an experience to engage with relatable global and local icons on New Balance’s terms, emphasizing the brand’s key tenets of function, craft, and uncompromising originality to shift brand perception within urban communities.

    For a special few, the “Grey Day” celebration included private jet and Tesla transportation to Austin, Texas, during SXSW. The larger block party included a private Texan BBQ with Austin-based chef Teddy Bricker as well as legendary Wu-Tang Clan member Raekwon (the chef), and of course a lot of live music.

  • PITCH TEAM
    Lauren Cameron + Jazarai Allen-Lord

    CREATIVE DIRECTION
    Lauren Cameron + Sarah Khadar

    EVENT PLANNING + ON-THE-GROUND OVERSIGHT
    Jazarai Allen-Lord + Sarah Khadar

    STRATEGY
    Lauren Cameron + Mazin Melagy + Sasha Ganelas

NB Grey Day SXSW Party with Raekwon

Everything about the SXSW Grey Day was essentially built around Raekwon’s (aka The Chef) distinct tastes. The Chef has been a New Balance fan since he was a kid growing up in Staten Island. In his words, “Back in the day, I had an uncle that always had a bunch of the 574s in different colors in his closet, and the all-grey version was my favorite.” Since the day he started to fit into his uncle’s shoes, Raekwon’s been donning the 574.

Everything from the food to the games were designed to reinforce the iconic NB 574 brand. In addition to the live performance by Raekwon, we had surprise giveaways throughout the day, lots of social-worthy photo areas built throughout the event space, and guests were invited to interactive stations where they could design customized 574s, making this a truly unforgettable, iconic event.

For addied pre-event hype activation, box trucks with interactive games and special giveaways drove around the Austin area, stopping at specific points en route to the SXSW Grey Day event.

The menu was also carefully crafted to correspond with Raekwon’s culinary inclinations. Alongside Austin-based chef Teddy Bricker, Raekwon devised some lighter alternatives to a traditional Texan BBQ well-suited to springtime cookouts. And Bricker, the chef behind the popular Austin food truck Soursop came up with a menu based around Raekwon’s food preferences.

Results

Over 275k
IG impressions

20% QR code
purchase conversion

Over 30 features on local & global press websites

1,200+
attendees

It’s official – New Balance’s Grey Day is a globally dedicated holiday designed purely for celebrating it’s iconic grey shade, going strong since 2018 when we launched this Raekwon x NB GreyDay event in Austin.

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