{"id":15316,"date":"2016-11-16T22:59:07","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T03:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/nike-just-did-it-digital-revolution\/"},"modified":"2016-11-16T23:01:32","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T04:01:32","slug":"nike-just-did-it-digital-revolution","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/nike-just-did-it-digital-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Nike just did it: Digital (R)evolution"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nike is world\u2019s leading company in athletic shoes and apparel holding 62% of US market share and having total worldwide sales of $31 Bi in 2015.<\/p>\n

To maintain its dominance, Nike needs not only to have a digital presence, but also to excel in it. Nike executives know that and, even though they proved to be successful in the online-direct-to-consumer-sales, reaching $1B figures in 2015, they disclosed an aggressive plan to reach $7B in 2020. But online sale is almost a pre-requisite to maintain its market share, so to take its digital presence to the next level, Nike saw the opportunity to create a communication channel through social networks and mobile devices. An impressive data point that proves that Nike is shifting its focus to online is the recent change on its marketing budget \u2013the company slashed its print and TV advertising spending by 40% and shifted that money to digital marketing.<\/p>\n

The first steps in the digital world<\/strong><\/p>\n

The company was officially created in 1972 when co-Founders changed the name Blue Ribbon Sports to Nike and started using the famous swoosh logo, which was designed by a student for $35 (a little over $200 in today\u2019s currency). Nike\u2019s growth was accelerated by its strong marketing campaigns and consistent use of technology and product innovation – from the first waffle sole shoes, to shoes made from waste. More recently, Nike decided to also innovate on the way it communicates and interacts with costumer \u2013 capitalizing on the digital innovation.<\/p>\n

Its digital innovations journey started to get traction when Nike decided to position itself to target young soccer players during the 1998 World Cup. At that time, the company created its first stand-alone website – Nikefootball.com and started the so called \u201cviral\u201d campaigns to get awareness in social networks.<\/p>\n

Exploring mobile devices<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nike started creating apps in 2006 and its main purpose is to create brand loyalty through dialogue and leverage this loyalty to have consumers advocating for the brand online (versus merely converting new customers through advertising). This was the main concept behind the creation of the Nike+ apps – according to Nikki Neuburger, Vice President, Global Brand Running at Nike \u201cOur mission was always about making athletes better. While gear is a sharp point for us, what we really see is the opportunity to extend and deepen the relationship with customers, making it more than a dashboard of data.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cdashboard\u201d feature of Nike\u2019s apps were extended to include (but not limited to):<\/p>\n