New Balance wanted us to target those who identify as runners in the ‘rising independent’ category. Key traits about the rising independent: 18-25 years old, multifaceted, individualistic.

We found that over 50% of those who run three or more times a week don’t identify as runners, yet many who hardly run do consider themselves runners.

As expected, the generation known for rejecting labels and forging new identities out of thin air gave us confusing data about how they choose to identify. Therefore, we decided New Balance should be more flexible with their definition of the word ‘runner’. Because no matter how, you run.