Grey Day

2021

Worn by anyone

Grey Day is an annual event celebrating New Balance's legacy of fearless independence with its iconic colour, grey. For 2021, the global theme of Worn by Anyone had to be interpreted for a Singaporean audience while staying true to New Balance's message of unity.

We wanted to feature individuals that truly represented Singapore's anyone. And what's more relatable than your neighbourhood ice cream uncle? Featuring traditional tradesmen and craftsmen like ice-cream vendor, Uncle Chieng, we showcased New Balance's craftsmanship and their heritage of blending tradition with innovation.

Living in the grey

The campaign scope included an out-of-home activation, featuring Uncle Chieng as a living billboard on Orchard Road, an in-store installation, a campaign video and subsequent social content.

I was responsible for crafting copy to deck out Uncle Chieng's ice cream cart and planning the installation. I also conceptualised, storyboarded and wrote the script for the campaign video. I directed the KOLs, Rui Xian and Malik, as they recorded their voice-overs and worked with my team to create separate teaser videos along with social posts.

The campaign went on to win two Golds and one Bronze in the Marketing Excellence Awards 2021.

Uncle Chieng

To draw the public to the New Balance Paragon Experience Store, we selected Uncle Chieng, an iconic ice cream man who has parked his cart on Orchard Road for over 27 years, to be our Brand Ambassador – truly capturing the message of "Worn by anyone".

Rui Xian and Malik

As a modern cheongsam designer and traditional calligraphy artist respectively, Rui Xian and Malik live in the grey area between legacy and modernity. We asked them to create one-of-a-kind pieces to display for Grey Day and documented their process to create a campaign video.