Nike is one of the most universally recognized brands and for good reason.
This global iconic brand continues to innovate and deepens its relationships with customers.
“At Nike, innovation comes in many forms and our growing digital ecosystem is the great example,” Nike CEO Mark Parker said during the company’s June 25 fourth-quarter earnings call, according to Seeking Alpha. “Consumers are increasingly connected and utilizing premium personal digital services. Digital is an accelerator of growth that is shaping everything we do. We are building deep connections to consumers with digital services and communities to driving rapid expansion of our ecommerce business. This is all made possible because NIKE is one of the world’s most engaged brands online. It’s where we connect with the consumer one-to-one and it’s where we connect people to one another. And we’re constantly looking for new always to seamlessly connect social platforms to commerce.”
In the fourth quarter, NIKE Women’s launched the Instagram shop, a new tool that allows users to click a photo and be taken directly to nike.com product pages. What’s more, Nike recently announced that it is one of the first partners to offer curated product collections through Twitter.
“We deepen our relationship with consumers through services like Nike+ Run Club and Nike+ Training Club that inspire and enable them to do more and to get better,” Parker added. “Our Nike+ Training club app continues to build a motivated community of devoted athletes and now features 135 workouts and is available in 17 languages. Access through nike.com and the Nike+ Run Club training plans bring together the best Nike Expert running guidance to one place. There is great potential here to connect more runners to the product they need to meet their goals. And in April we unveiled a Nike trainers’ hub that unites the global network of elite trainers to help every athlete reach their peak potential. We connect, motivate, and inspire our community of members with great products and services, because ultimately what sets NIKE apart is our innovate products and ecommerce is rapidly expanding our ability to serve consumers with products for any sport all over the world.”
Nike recorded 51% revenue growth in the fourth quarter and 55% growth for the full year.
Parker said Nike stays true to its commitment to the athlete and to innovation.
“I recently sat with the innovation teams for an in-depth review of our future product concepts, and I can tell you I’m incredibly energized by what’s to come,” Parker explained. “Today, we are pushing ourselves to create products and experiences that consumers want and some they never thought possible. The scale and pace at which we are bringing new innovations to market is unprecedented. Let me share a few examples. FlyKnit, of course, continues to be one of Nike’s great breakthroughs for the athlete and for our company. It’s created a whole new model for design and manufacturing, instead of engineering down to the piece, we can now engineer down to the pixel to enhance performance, aesthetics and sustainability. And the most exciting part is we are just discovering new ways to use it every day.”
Not only does Nike deliver new breakthroughs, Parker explained, but it also pushes itself to reinvent its most iconic products.
“Products in our running category are a great example,” he said. “This year, we matched Zoom Air in its 20th year with the Pegasus 31 to create the fastest, most responsive Pegasus to-date. It proves that much better does not always have to be entirely new. We also continued to diversify one of our greatest collections of apparel technologies, Dri-Fit. Dri-Fit is the foundation for everything from shirts to tights to shocks and it adapts to any athlete need. Strong performance this year included Nike Pro Hyperwarm, running Dri-Fit Knit and running Dry-Fit Hypercool. One of this year’s greatest Dri-Fit innovations was with Nike Pro Bra collection. With the broadest assortment of styles and sizes, we are able to provide the athlete with the right fit and support for any type of training or sports.”