The "social network" of a running shoe: Nike's digital marketing Secrets

Running was a lonely thing. As the writer Murakami Murakami in that book when I talk about running, I say: it doesn't need a partner or an opponent, or a special outfit, not a particular place. As long as there is a pair of shoes suitable for running, you can go to the place of love and how long you run.

Since 2006, Nike has been trying to change that. In January this year, Nike released a new product called the Fuel Wristband (FuelBand), priced at $149, claiming to be the biggest innovation since Nike air shoes, and 2 months later, Nike is partnering with a fast-growing private social application path for global users-if you've With apps like Nike GPS, you can simply drag a small string around your smartphone to associate it with the path, which means your running data can be updated in real time to your chosen circle of friends.

The research and collaboration comes from a secret department at Nike's headquarters in Oregon State Beaverton, USA, and according to the FT, even Nike employees are not sure what the staff are doing. There was a sign on the front door: "Forbidden Area: we heard you knock, but we can't let you in." ”

It is the Nike Digital sports department (Nike Digital QSL), the entire team has 240 people, the most famous product is Nike. Since 2006, this chip, which is larger than the adult thumb lid, has been sold in major Apple stores around the world. If you put it in a Nike special running shoe, it can track your movement data including time, distance, and energy consumption, and encourage you to transfer the data to nikeplus.com, where you can get some training advice and share your income with your friends. Since then, Nike has released apps for Nike GPS and Nike training, as well as a device called Nike Sportwatch GPS and Nike basketball for specialized areas. Their function is similar to the original Nike chip: tracking, recording and sharing.

"We have such a feeling, we know that in the future customers in the process of participating in the use of this product, he will want to get a richer product experience, so we also want to give our products such a capability, through the digital to provide consumers with a richer experience, as today we show the technology, It is now visible that you have seen some of the previously invisible information. Nike brand president Charlie Denson said to the first financial weekly.

Over the past 3 years, Nike's advertising budget for traditional media has fallen by 40%, although its marketing budget reached a record 2.4 billion trillion dollars in 2011. Nike's unconventional marketing budget in 2010 amounted to $800 million trillion, and the proportion of the total marketing budget ranked first among us advertisers, according to Advertising Age, a survey firm. "Michael Jordan's fire, his shoes will fire," the era has passed, behind the one reason is that its core users-young people from the television moved to the Internet. Nike is not content to influence this group of people through 4A companies, who want to have direct relationships with customers, stay in their lives, master their data, accurately grasp their needs and influence them more effectively.

In other words, Nike's development of the accessories business is not about using it to make money, although 1000 yuan to buy a FuelBand is not really cheap consumption, but Nike is more concerned about building a digital and real customer relationship, and constantly bring new customers, creating brand loyalty. A Nike store chief in Beijing told Caijing Weekly that, in the case of the Beijing market, about 40% of Nike users bought Nike-branded running shoes and continued to buy other equipment.

According to Nike's figures, about 5 million runners worldwide now log on to the Nike website and look at their performance. If you count Facebook and Twitter fans, Nike has a huge social network: it has had 200 million of people's attention in the past--that was in the US Super Bowl Bowl--now Nike can easily reach this order of magnitude every day. Although there is no financial detail about Nike, analysts say the number of Nike members increased by 55% in 2011, while their running revenues rose by as much as 30% to 2.8 billion dollars, Nike.

The social network could include Nike-sponsored star Kobe Bryant, as well as ordinary Chinese runner Chiai and Shu.

June 1, 2011, 28-year-old Chiai in Beijing Sanlitun Sanlitun nike shop bought a Nike wrist strap and chip. Every time he goes out running, he sets a good distance: from agricultural University to Xidan. Data such as the speed, heat, and distance of the wrist strap are constantly updated to remind him of the difference between the set goals.

Chiai will not only upload his own movement data to Nike, he also signed up for the activities of the Nike City: People in every city will upload their running data within a specified time to see which city accumulates long distances. Nike organized similar activities in London in 2010. The Nike Grid event was launched on Facebook and participants were required to go to different locations in the city to get points. Participants in the event launched a 15-day event that was equivalent to half a circle around the Earth: 12,500 miles (equivalent to 20,200 km).

The Shu of Wuhan is Nike Sportwatch GPS. She runs three to four times a week, half an hour each time. Sportwatch must also be used in conjunction with the chip, according to Shu before the frequency of use, her left foot insole underneath the Nike chip life expectancy of about one year. Because she later took part in the Han Street night run at the Nike Run club, this time will be shorter.

With Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, the number of cities involved in night running activities, and Shu together to participate in Wuhan night running activities are not much. Despite the impact of the campaign on the users of such Nike products, Nike invited Wuhan star Li Na for its first night run in the summer of 2011, when nearly 600 of the running friends attended the event. But in this year's event, the number of night-running participants stabilized at forty or fifty, with the majority of companies aged 25 to 30.