New Balance announced its deal with Shohei Ohtani in January 2023, as the company went from being a brand officially endorsed by no one (but unofficially endorsed by aging dads everywhere) to working with some of the world’s top athletes. It was only a few months later that Ohtani’s theatrical performance in the World Baseball Classic cemented his place as an international icon.

With a full count and two outs in the top of the ninth of the tournament’s final game, Ohtani threw a sweeper to strike out his then Los Angeles Angels teammate Mike Trout and beat the USA 3-2. Over the course of the tournament, he served as a designated hitter, a starting pitcher and, when it mattered most, a closer for Japan.

Following the punch out, Ohtani opened his arms to his teammates in the Japan dugout, launched his glove, and flicked off his hat as he stood there with his mouth wide open in pure adulation.

It was a signature moment for one of the greatest athletes in all of sports history, who has since gone on to achieve a wide variety of other historic feats. It was also a signature moment for New Balance, which debuted Ohtani’s first campaign prior to the tournament.

“Hey you-oo!” would echo in the ears of baseball fans everywhere by the end of 2023.

Despite all his achievements, Ohtani remains more of a ‘show, don’t tell’ athlete, which aligns with New Balance’s ‘show, don’t tell’ brand. He’s credited New Balance’s approach to allowing athletes to be themselves as part of his excitement about the partnership.

“He has many stories to tell, but so few stories known,” said Ian Fitzpatrick, Global Senior Director for Performance Marketing with New Balance.

All of those unknown stories are largely a result of his distinct focus on baseball.

“That’s what he wants to do, he’s a baseball player, but he wants someone to tell his story in a way that he’s involved, but he doesn’t have to be on calls left and right,” says Evan Zeder, Director of Sports Marketing for New Balance Baseball.

Ohtani wanted the brand to understand who he is and let the storytelling materialize from their mutual understanding. New Balance’s strong reputation in Japan, where the company has had a presence since 1988, spoke volumes to Ohtani.

Part of the process with Ohtani, his agent Nez Balelo, and his team, was to provide the stories he wanted to be shared by New Balance. Ohtani visited the New Balance headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts in the offseason and walked through every department to get involved with his brand and collection. Among the themes were a remembrance of being young, being part of a team, staying after practice, and having a shared ambition with his teammates.

Once Ohtani had his New Balance deal in place, his top priority became putting those themes into action by donating his signature baseball glove to kids across Japan. Ohtani was adamant about making this happen despite the level of difficulty to get 60,000 youth gloves made and donated.

“People don’t understand the challenge that went into that,” Zeder said. “It was Shohei’s willingness to ask ‘What does it take to do this?’ and our reply was, ‘It would not be a small fee.’ Shohei said, ‘Whatever support you need or whatever you need from me to do, I want to do this. I want all of these kids to have my glove and for me to connect right to them.’”

In November 2023, he wrote on Instagram: “I’m happy to announce that I will be donating approximately 60,000 youth gloves to every elementary school in Japan. That comes out to around 20,000 elementary schools. … I’ll be looking forward to sharing the field one day with someone that grew up using this glove!”

The logo and the collection

The Shohei Ohtani Signature Collection, launched on July 15, 2024, features on- and off-field styles and his first signature cleat. It also debuted his new logo.

“There has been a land rush for athlete logos, but how few have really been impactful? How few have facilitated the building of a brand?” Fitzpatrick said. “Putting Shohei on your chest, you stand for a set of values. You stand for an idea. The pieces in this collection draw inspiration directly from the game itself. The tones and colors mixed in are reminiscent of the infield dirt, pitcher’s mound and outfield, blending tradition with modern minimalism. Many items feature double pockets, a nod to the unicorn talent of Ohtani as a two-way player.”

Athlete logos often feature a reference to the player’s number or, for a player of Shohei’s stature, a silhouette of them in action.

The logo New Balance created with Ohtani is not about hitting or pitching, though. Instead, it is about a mindset on continuous improvement. Stemming from the Harada Method, which involves mapping out one’s long-term goals and detailing the steps to reach them — a practice Ohtani employed when he was younger (pictured below) — his logo mirrors his discussions with New Balance about continuous improvement, even at the peak of his craft.

“It is about the mindset of determination, of turning a single into a double, a double into a triple. This idea of constant forward momentum,” said Fitzpatrick.

“In that run, every soul delights,” is an English translation of the Japanese tagline used at the end of an animated video that accompanied the unveiling of the logo.

“The reality is it’s a phenomenal embodiment of somebody who is in that kind of motion, and we believe stands out in a world full of word marks,” Fitzpatrick said.

When Ohtani’s New Balance logo debuted, there was criticism expressing a need to capture him hitting or pitching. New Balance opted not to address it publicly. They would joke that they didn’t want it to be explained in a Twitter thread.

“It’s the start of storytelling with his logo and his collection,” Zeder said. “It will be built with him, but it will take time.”

New Balance shared that additional performance gear will drop for the collection this winter.

The Ohtani 1 is the signature cleat of the collection. These are uniquely created, given Ohtani’s needs as a two-way player. Zeder shared that other players have requested Ohtani’s turf cleat.

“There is an affinity for him, not only among youth but also among Major Leaguers.”

The Ohtani 1 cleat. (Photo: New Balance)

In this drop culture of limited editions, the Ohtani Collection will periodically feature new apparel and gear. Rooted in more natural tones and colors, it will certainly be different from other athletes in baseball who wear colorways that make kids salivate. In the New Balance world, the likes of the New York Mets’ Francisco Lindor and his brand are vastly different from Ohtani given the vibrant colors and style.

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However, one bit of flash in the colorways for Ohtani’s cleats and turfs is gold, which is meant to symbolize him being baseball’s greatest player. There will be more elements highlighted with connectivity back to the product line. For the 2025 season, there is potential for a Tokyo-inspired cleat with the Los Angeles Dodgers facing the Chicago Cubs in March to open the season in Japan.

Another major part of Ohtani and his collection is his pride and joy, his dog Decoy. Ohtani directly requested adding Decoy to his cleats. So he was gifted cleats featuring Decoy the night he became baseball’s first 50/50 player while going 6-for-6 in one of the game’s all-time great performances. He did that with Decoy on his feet. It’s safe to say more Decoy is in the collection’s future.

50/50

Ohtani’s ability to accomplish historic feats challenges New Balance, and any other brand he works with, to market in new ways. In the instance of his milestone of 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in the same season, New Balance was tasked with telling a story about something that has never been done before, with the obstacle of not truly being able to involve Ohtani since he was in season and focused on competing with the Dodgers.

Ohtani held the proverbial “keys to this exclusive club” and this sparked the creative behind New Balance’s 50/50 campaign.

Leading up to the big moment, New Balance worked with Free Agency to build a set that would welcome Ohtani to this ultra exclusive new club. They then brought on Good Art to craft a key.

The New Balance marketing team was racing to pull everything together as Ohtani quickly approached the 50/50 mark. The same group nervously watched and texted each other, waiting for the crystallization of the moment.

Ohtani and Balelo approved the draft on Sept. 18. As the final hours were put into editing the video, media buys were made to run it after the game in which he reached 50/50, which ended up being Sept. 19. But it was ultimately pushed to the next day, which allowed the spot to have its moment without being lost in the chaos of Ohtani’s historic performance, as Zeder recalled.

New Balance listed an $80, limited edition T-shirt for the Ohtani collection showcasing the 50/50 milestone with Ohtani’s signature logo in gold lettering. The shirt sold out within four hours.

The biggest compliment that New Balance received about its 50/50 campaign was a text from Balelo that read:

“Is that key real? Shohei wants to see if he can have it.”

And New Balance is working on making it happen because it’s another story to tell.

“When you are constantly comparing this guy to Babe Ruth and the numbers look better, it’s an unbelievably unique opportunity when baseball players speak about (him) as one of the greatest, and it’s on us to do right by that because it’s not just a baseball story,” Zeder said.