How Nike + helped millions of runners to Just Do It

“Marketing helps brands interpret themselves to their customers”. These interpretations would be via campaigns – an advertisement, a promotion, an event or perhaps a custom made book. What ever form the campaign took, it was a one way communication from a brand to people at large. If consumers reacted positively to the campaign, impact would be seen via sales, footfalls, positive attitudinal scores and free column centimeters.

Digital marketing has caused seismic shifts in the way brands interpret themselves to their customers. One can assess some elements of behavior almost immediately (the hated click-through rate is one example), positive attitudes (a Like) or broadcast affinity (an RT); all these in addition to what existed. Add Social + Location + Mobile to this bubbling cauldron and you have a magic potion. (I easily succumb to hyperbole).

The campaign many consider to be the masterclass in digital marketing is Nike +.

In 2007, Nike launched Nike +. It was a sensor that a runner would slip into her shoe; the sensor would then communicate with an iPod and one could then upload the running data to nikeplus.com, where tracking, sharing and planning for further progress became ever easier.

Nike + took the running world by storm. Sales of sensors zoomed. Running clubs seemed to get a new lease of life. People who adopted running as a new year’s resolution were actually running races by the time the year ended.

Runners who didn’t use Nike shoes, were cutting their shoes to insert the Nike + sensors, to take advantage of the singular benefit – it helped people track and improve their running.

In 2010, Nike launched the Nike + GPS app for the iPhone. Now one didn’t need to buy a special pair of shoes, or a sensor. Neither did you need to cut your shoes.

Now is a good time to watch these two quick videos

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSWeAUA4uVk[/youtube] An introduction to Nike +

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyphz5H1DSE[/youtube]
An introduction to Nike + GPS

“Nike Plus takes 'Just do it' and actually helps runners get it done. Since its launch, Nike Plus runners have logged more than 100 million miles—enough for more than 400 roundtrips to the moon. It's little coincidence that Nike steadily increased its running shoe market share from 48 percent in 2006 to 61 percent in 2008. Along the way it created something for brands to aspire to: a product experience that reinforces the brand message.” said Brian Morrissey, one of the best known watchers of digital marketing, in Adweek.

There are six key lessons here, something that any brand could look at.

Personal data is a powerful driver of change: The key features in Nike +/Nike + GPS are data analysis & visualization applied to personal running data. One can slice, dice and display them in multiple ways. One can compare them with others. One can brag about them, of course. And as with all measurements, they provide a powerful urge to improve.

Behavioural change requires regular positive feedback: Applause and positive feedback loops reinforce behavior, urging you to greater heights. In Nike + including celebrity voices & comments add to the entertainment quotient. Gamification, leader boards, badges all are part of these.

People want their social networks to be supporters & competitors: Sharing with social networks help one compete with friends. It also helps recruit them as supporters. Runners feel they can’t slack off because that means letting down their friends!

Digital campaigns can be ubiquitous in consumers’ lives: One of the holy grails in pre-digital marketing was for brands and their vocabulary to be part of popular culture. In the digital era, brands live with their consumers, in their phones, in their networks, in the cloud. Running is a part of runners’ lives and Nike + enhances running by becoming part of a personal arsenal.

Standardized platforms & APIs can help fuel unique brand experiences: Platforms like iOS, Android provide powerful ways to leverage standardized digital behaviours. Increasingly, social networks are releasing APIs which brands can use to create experiences without re-inventing the wheel.

Brands are as much about doing as inspiring: Brands and consumers seemed to inhabit different rooms. Inspiration was the brand’s forte and consumers could choose to behave according to that inspiration or not. By embedding the brand through behaviours propelled by digital technology, brands can be doers, too.

Marketing has never been so exciting. The tools exist. Consumers are embracing these tools in their daily lives (Yes, even in India. A 100 million Facebookers is not small change). All that is required is for brands to re-define their existence in consumers lives. Do brands wish to be at the periphery, using digital as a channel? Or, be as their consumers and use digital to enhance themselves?

What do you think?

The thoughts and opinions shared here are of the author.