I think without a doubt, Nike Plus is the Nike’s most innovative product. Nike teamed up with Apple aiming to create a product which has greater customer experience along with both technologic and interactive features. Nike Plus creates a unique product category which combines technology, online experience and marketing.
Nike Plus is a special sensor which is placed inside the shoe and synchronized with iPod. This sensor tracks the runner’s performance and uploads the details of the performance to the iPod. During the run, runner can follow (hear) the details of his performance from the iPod. When the iPod is connected to computer, the performance details, most recent graphs and progress can be followed online as well.
The online part of the product, the Nikeplus.com website, is a platform in which users can compare their results with others and can participate to special challenges. The features of the Nikeplus website create a golden opportunity for marketing. Therefore, Nike Plus can be considered as a revolution in marketing and sports. First of all, all customers who purchased the Nike Plus sensor are eventually subscribing to the website, allowing Nike to have a greatest and deepest database of customer information. Since the behaviors and qualities of the customers can be obtained from this database, it becomes too easy for Nike to reach its target audience. Then the challenge section in the website increases the customer experience and social sharing, that leads a greater customer loyalty to the brand.
The only challenging part for Nike is to add more costumers to Nike Plus network. For this reason since 2007 Nike is running ad campaigns and organizing different events related to this product. Human Race is a good example of Nike’s effort promoting Nike Plus. On the ad campaign side, Nike started to promote this product with “New Year Resolution” campaign in 2007.
The “New Year Resolution” campaign included many viral video but the most famous ad of the campaign was the ad which features tennis star Maria Sharapova challenges to NBA golden boy LeBron James. In this funny video, Sharapova invites LeBron for a running duel and at the end one of them is primed for public embarrassment. If Maria runs more miles with Nike+, then LeBron could wind up her ballboy on the court. If the opposite happens Maria will be LeBron’s waterboy. We don’t know how the bet resulted but the video was very funny and impressing.
Back than, I wondered that why Nike doesn’t spread this duels to others sportsmen under Nike endorsements. Two years later Nike started the use the challenge concept again, this time spreading the idea from sports celebrities to the fans. Nike took one of most appealing challenges in Nikeplus.com, and put in the center of its new ad campaign. This time the challenge is about running duel, men vs. women. New ad includes many sports celebrities like Roger Federer, Fernando Torres, Zlatan Ibrahimovic etc… With this funny ad Nike invites everybody to take part in this duel.
Nike Plus is targeting everybody who does sports and gives them the opportunity to track their performance and compare themselves with the rest of the world. I think this product, the ad campaign and their strategy of increasing the customer experience will gain them a lot of success.
