Nike Brand Experience

This blog post will discuss the interactive shopping experience Nike customers receive and evaluate how this builds a relationship with the brand.

“Nike is enabling and inspiring athletes to be the best they can be by offering premium services and experiences at this unique digitally enabled sporting clubhouse." Gino Fisanotti, Marketing Director Nike UK & Ireland

Nike+ FuelStation store opened in London’s Clapham Common park in 2012. The brand has chosen this placement of the store to come direct to the target market. Clapham Common is one of London’s top sporting areas therefore a large amount of these will be potential Nike customers and could persuade London’s athletes to change their sportswear brand. The placement of this store is unique and innovative, which again backs up the brands values.

Inside the store, Nike promises this to be the retail experience of the future. It tries to bring the digital and physical worlds together to create a new experience for consumers by inspiring them throughout their shopping experience. This store does not have a large stock of products; it is more about advising the customer of the products and their capabilities while creating a memorable experience. 

When you walk in, you step through the door a camera tracks your movement, turning the red interactive wall green as you move past it along a long corridor. Nike has said this feature is at the entrance to make the customer feel involved as soon as they enter the store and to show movement, a large part of their branding as discussed in previous post. This impresses the customer as soon as they enter the store and makes the shopping experience more personal.

The store’s next feature is the Nike Fuel pod. This area is designed to let you record yourself moving and having fun. The Kinect tracks your movements, creates a silhouette made of pixels on the wall in front of you and goes from red to green based on the amount of movement. At the end, if you give Nike your email address, you get an email with your 30-second clip and you can share, embed, or just watch your efforts. Again, this is reinforcing the interaction with the customer and making them feel involved. Both features in the store do not relate to any products but are the main two features the customer is involved in when entering the store making them feel connected to the brand. Being able to share your video online helps Nike promote the store and brand through the customers. Usually when a customer shares a shopping experience online it is usually negative feedback which will give the company a bad reputation and may turn potential customers away. Nike have created something fun and positive to share online which still reinforces the brand values of inspiring athletes.

The store also provides information about the products in a digital way. There are iPads on the walls and all staff members carry an iPad where everyone can access the online catalogue of products, show how the products are made and why they are made the way they are to be the most beneficial. This is known as omni-channel marketing, providing a seamless customer experience through all available channels (Ferrell, Dibb and Simkin, 2016). Not only can they tell you about products, Nike have Nike+ Run Club set up in cities all around the world. This provides a free running club with advice on the best routes in the city, also a Nike running community, both offline and online. 

Another part of customer interaction is a separate area of the store where they have a treadmill set up with cameras and different technology to track how you run to send information to the staff’s iPad which can help them choose the correct type of footwear. This allows them to match your running style to the type of running shoe you should be wearing to maximize performance. This is an innovative way to involve the customer and strengthen the brand’s story and values. As previously mentioned, Nike cofounder Bill Bowerman started by customizing the running shoes for his students and as a company Nike continue to give this option to customers today but in a more modern and digital way that many other sportswear brands may not offer. 

In conclusion, Nike have stayed consistent with their values and message to potential customers and they have stayed true to their mission statement. Nike are keeping their reputation of a victorious, innovative, successful, high quality brand and the brand continues to build a stronger presence in the fitness industry by thinking of new ways to keep improving sportswear and inspiring athletes around the world. 

References

Ferrell, O.C., Dibb, S. and Simkin, L. (2016) Marketing: Concepts and strategies. London, United Kingdom: Cengage Learning EMEA.

Frearson, A. (2012) NikeFuel station at Boxpark. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2012/03/12/nike-fuelstation-at-boxpark/ (Accessed: 23 November 2016).

Pocket-lint and Miles, S. (2012) Nike fuel station: The future of retail? Available at: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/114698-nike-fuel-station-shoreditch-high-street (Accessed: 23 November 2016).