NIKE: Inspiring Athletes through Social Media
Nike has experimented with social media consumers having partnered with Google, Facebook, MySpace, Youtube, and even Chinese social media sites (Weibo, Ren Ren, and QQ) in the past couple years. Their stance interprets social media sites as an opportunity to create a runner’s mentality in which Nike can advertise and consumers can share their athletic experiences. New gadgets such as Nike+ GPS App and Nike+ GPS Sportswatch allow people to share their daily running routes, exercises, or just to keep in touch with others. The community now dates to approximately 5 million members who share their Nike experiences daily whether it’s to motivate and support a fellow runner or to brag about a personal athletic achievement. Projects have included Operation 6453, a text messaging scavenger hunt in New York City, and ‘The Grid’, a virtual game in London where runners earn points for running to checkpoints around the city. ‘The Grid’ was tracked over Facebook in 2010 for 15 days, and runners achieved 30,177 runs which was equivalent to approximately 12,500 miles.
Nike’s focus on developing large consumer networks through social media illustrates how social networking can be beneficial for companies. Social networks have enabled Nike to establish local bridges to many consumers effectively advertising its products and inspiring a new generation of athletes. Creating virtual games over social media gives incentive for consumers to share or brag about their experiences. For each person (node) exposed to Nike, subsequent bridges can be established and new weak connections developed. Nike also benefits from strong triadic closure as sharing can attract new nodes into its social network.
Nike’s goal has always been to “connect with athletes to inspire and enable them to be better.” Through novel methods in social media, Nike has only begun to accomplish its goal as it simultaneously broadens its consumer base and ushers in a new breed of athletes.
Link:
http://mashable.com/2011/09/22/nike-social-media/
whats the new gadgets Nike+ GPS App and Nike+ GPS Sportswatch. have a gps ? like good. 🙂
Social media allows people to share their daily lives on an instant basis. It fosters daily informational interaction with ALL your friends without face-to-face meetings or individual texts/phone calls.
Nike has merely utilized this commodity and extended it in way so that athletes can take advantage of social media.