What if staying private is one of New Balance’s biggest competitive advantages?

In Episode 3 of A Different Take, host Linda Boff explores how New Balance’s independence allowed the 100-year-old brand to think differently—playing the long game, building meaningful collaborations, and creating cultural relevance without chasing every trend.

New Balance CMO Chris Davis joins creative visionary and New Balance collaborator Ronnie Fieg, alongside Complex Associate Editor Matt Welty, offering an outside perspective on the brand’s evolution, collaborations, and culture.

A Different Take is hosted by Linda Boff.

0:00 Introduction

1:02 Private Ownership

2:23 The Long Game

4:45 Ronnie Fieg

7:11 The Product Has a Memory

8:38 Scarcity Without The Hype Machine

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What makes an athlete choose one brand over another?

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A Different Take — Season 2 launches with the story of New Balance’s remarkable transformation from “dad shoe” to one of the hottest brands in sports and culture.

Hosted by Linda Boff, this episode goes behind the strategy that changed how the world saw New Balance. Chris Davis, Chief Marketing Officer & Brand President of New Balance, and Matt Welty, Complex Associate Editor and longtime sneaker journalist, unpack the pivotal moments—from limited-edition collaborations and the rise of sneaker culture to New Balance’s decision to embrace its heritage rather than imitate its competitors.

How do you make an “uncool” brand cool without losing what made it authentic in the first place?

Welcome to Season 2 of A Different Take.

0:00 Intro & Background

2:56 The Reputation

6:17 The Turning Point

7:45 What Actually Changed?

12:58 Surprise: They Didn't Hide The Dad Shoe

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Episode 2: Was Coca-Cola's campaign a defining test case for whether AI can serve as a creative collaborator rather than a replacement for human talent?  Secret Level founder Jason Zada explores how one of the world’s most iconic brands balanced innovation with consumer expectations, what it means to introduce AI at scale, and how creative leadership evaluates when emerging technology enhances—not diminishes—the craft of storytelling.

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Episode 4: Did Coca-Cola’s AI campaign herald a new golden age of marketing?  We talk with Silverside founder PJ Periera about how brands can use AI to reimagine iconic assets and blend nostalgia with new forms of storytelling, while navigating the risks that come with touching deeply familiar cultural symbols. The conversation explores whether this marks a true turning point for marketing, how AI is redefining creative excellence, and what separates meaningful brand reinvention from content that is merely faster and cheaper to produce.

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Episode 2: Coca-Cola's holiday advertising has long-signaled the unofficial start of the season so their seminal use of AI caught a great deal of attention.  But this wasn’t an overnight experiment rather the result of years of exploration, raising questions about how legacy brands can thoughtfully adopt emerging technology while navigating public skepticism. The conversation with Coca-Cola CMO Manolo Arroyo examines whether audience reactions were driven by the technology itself or its execution, when AI genuinely unlocks creatively, and how brands and creators can balance innovation, cultural relevance, and concerns about the future of creative work.

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Episode 3: Veteran storyhunter and filmmaker Josh Davis helps unpack a broader shift in marketing, where AI is making high-quality storytelling faster, more accessible, and increasingly scalable for brands of all sizes. Questions explored are whether society is moving from skepticism to acceptance of AI, how audiences define authenticity, and what marketers can learn as technology evolves faster than cultural norms and expectations.

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