The story behind New Balance’s ‘Call Me Champion’ campaign

For hours after she won the 2023 US Open, Coco Gauff refused to change out of the baggy white T-shirt she put on over her match outfit following the trophy presentation. The shirt worn by the 19-year-old tennis star featured one sentence in black script on the front: “Call Me Coco Champion.” For New Balance, this celebratory piece of apparel had been years in the making, since 2018, when Gauff turned pro at 14, and the Boston-based sportswear company signed her to an endorsement deal. Last year, Gauff extended her New Balance contract after becoming the only active player in pro women’s tennis with a signature sneaker. And, at this year’s US Open, she laced up her shoe, the New Balance CG1, en route to winning her first career Grand Slam title. View this post on Instagram A post shared by New Balance (@newbalance) To celebrate the milestone, New Balance brought back the “Call Me Coco” slogan from the brand’s original marketing campaign, only this time with a revision. “We’ve known Coco’s potential since we started working with her. And we’ve never questioned that potential, on or off court,” Evan Zeder, head of global tennis and baseball sports marketing for...