Powering on: what you can learn from Nike's product approach

Footwear giant Nike has a storied history of innovation, from its sneakers to its groundbreaking shift to membership. Unlike many companies that become stagnant in what they create for the market Nike has always tried to break the mold, not always with incredible success - remember the Nike Fuel Band? Many of their failures however came in a different era, a time before they established a direct relationship with their customers, when they had little data to go on as to their purchases or behaviors.

Times have changed, however. Now, Nike is a true digital business with membership at its core. As a result, Nike has a deep understanding of its users behaviors, which makes product development much easier. One of the brand's more recent releases might initially come as a surprise but really it's a natural step sideways and that is the magic of when product development is undertaken in the right way.

Nike's shift into strength equipment is a natural step when you consider how many of their users workout using weights already. Then consider those enticed by their Nike Training Club app to workout at home. The audience for the physical weight training equipment is vast and through their apps they have a direct pathway to those people they know might use it. This reduces the marketing costs associated with the product as well as helping better models for their manufacturing teams to predict the total number they will need.

The evolution of a product suite in a successful brand will feel organic and make sense to their customers, there's nothing worse than a brand stepping outside of its remit and bolting something on that doesn't feel like a fit. More often than not, those products will fail. Nike actually experienced this themselves not long ago with a failed foray into surfing.

Nike's weight lifting plates are also part of their new Grind series, which is a 30-year-old program in which 'Manufacturing scrap, unused manufacturing materials and end-of-life footwear— including rubber, foam, fiber, leather and textiles—are collected, separated and reused or processed into new Nike Grind materials'. What originated as a side project is now becoming core to their product releases, as society has begun to realize the impact fashion waste has on the environment.

Nike is obviously one of the world's largest producers of this waste, they have now made this type of process part of their product development process. This again recognizes their understanding of their consumers and how they want their brand to be positioned.

THE TAKEAWAY

New products should feel like a natural fit for your brand, an evolution or a sideways step.

Think about your mission and the other values your audience holds and how you can incorporate them into your product development process

GO DEEPER

Explore Nike Grind here.