New Balance has appointed you as Head of Marketing for the Middle East, Africa, and India (MEAI). “In her new role, Ana will lead efforts to strengthen the brand’s presence across the region, driving innovative marketing campaigns and fostering deeper connections with local customers and communities.” How does that translate on the ground?
This year, New Balance has continued to embody its rich heritage while seamlessly blending innovation and exceptional craftsmanship. We take pride in fostering a spirit of enjoyment and fun while inspiring our community to come together through shared experiences that celebrate movement and style.
A great example is how we brought our iconic NB Grey Days to life in May, quite literally “painting the town grey” through a striking Koncrete x Ounass takeover and hosting our first Grey 5k social run with Foot Locker at JBR.
The Summer heat hasn’t slowed us down this year either, with activities such as indoor runs at malls in Abu Dhabi and Doha. Meanwhile in India we marked our busiest month to date, organising incredible in-store events and even a fashion show at a New Delhi mall.
Looking ahead, we have an exciting line-up of initiatives across the region, all involving our greatly loyal community. We can’t wait to reveal more in the coming months.
You have been the recipient of the prestigious “Sustainable Leadership Award” by the Asian Confederation of Businesses. Can you tell us more about this and what it means as a leader?
Despite it not being part of a traditional “marketing role”, I’m very passionate about sustainability and have taken ownership over a lot of initiatives and training sessions to drive awareness in the design industry mostly focused on topics like biomimicry as well as the conscious decision to design products with LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) and durability in mind.
I was very surprised to be recognised, however it is an accolade that I received and hold with extreme pride. To me it serves as a reminder that I, as well as everyone else, can always follow our passions and set our own paths.
Sports in the GCC region is a bit of mix-and-match. There is a lot of interest but more on the level of spectatorship rather than participation. How does one tackle this viewing the logistic constraints which include weather, social issues and what not?
You would be surprised with the changes this region has seen in recent years when it comes to interest in sports. Sport participation in the region is actually at an all-time high and it’s just amazing to see more people considering sports and movement as part of their daily lifestyle and not necessarily considering it as a chore or just a weight loss tool.
One of the biggest reasons that we have observed is that there has been a great mental shift as to how the public perceive sports and movement; it is no just a tool to lose weight, it has become an integral part of people’s daily lifestyle. As well as this, community-driven activities have seen a meteoric rise in the past few years, with sports such as padel becoming so popular, we have noticed that sports is becoming more about creating a social circle for people to connect and provide mutual motivation.
It’s been especially amazing to watch the increase of local women participation in sports. Both the governments and the community across the region have done a fantastic job in promoting women in sports. Women’s participation at events such as the Riyadh Marathon and Dubai Women’s Run, along with the increase of women’s running clubs in Doha, are great examples of how women are beginning to feel more connected to sports and movement.
